


Shifting Sands

by CrystallicSky



Category: Aladdin: The Animated Series, Xiaolin Showdown (Cartoon)
Genre: Abuse, Coming of Age, Crossover, Evil Wins, Gen, M/M, Necromancy, Revenge, Slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-02
Updated: 2007-12-02
Packaged: 2017-11-12 17:02:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 64,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/493615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrystallicSky/pseuds/CrystallicSky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens when Jack is forced into another world and reshaped into someone entirely different? And what of Chase Young? How will he fit into all of this?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

One sentence. That was all it was, really: one tiny, insignificant utterance that shouldn't have had any impact at all. But nonetheless, it was that one little statement that both ruined and began the life of Jack Spicer.

It had started as an otherwise ordinary day, and Jack had been entirely unaware that it would be one that he would remember as the last day of his old life. A new Wu had activated itself in the middle of the Sahara Desert sometime around late afternoon, which alone was enough to annoy the teenager; after all, as a gothic albino, such sun and heat were some of his worst enemies, and Jack made the effort to avoid the both of them whenever possible. Even more aggravating than that, however, was the fact that this was apparently one of those magical objects that no one was sure of the use or purpose of, something the faux red-head was _sure_ would cause mayhem in some form; little did _he_ know at the time how right he would prove to be.

In any case, the Showdown had taken place, and by the status quo, Jack had lost quickly. In his own defense, though, in a battle between himself, Hannibal Bean, Chase Young, and Raimundo Pedrosa, it was nothing short of impossible for a semi-average teenager with only a slight mechanical advantage to come out the victor when in the face of intensive martial arts training and magical force. All in all, at this point in his evil career, he counted it lucky that he had avoided maiming or otherwise death.

But, back to the subject, Bean had won the mysterious new Shen Gong Wu, an iridescent crystal by the name of "The Traverser's Pyramid."

"Well, now," the chili-fixin' drawled, "having this in my possession, there's only one thing left to do..." He raised the vine-like appendage holding the triangular crystal towards Jack, who inhaled sharply, stepping backwards in a fearful caution. "I think I'll test it," the bean finished darkly, before calling, " _Traverser's Pyramid!_ "

There it was, the phrase that set the wheels of fate into motion; light of every color erupted from the small, clear object, blasting right into Jack's chest with what felt to him like bone-crushing force. The prism of lights swirled and twisted and twined around him, disorienting and dizzying the unsuspecting boy somehow causing the ground under his feet to literally melt away and to cause him to see nothing else but the flashing, blinding colors. Falling into the neon abyss, Jack fought down the urge to scream, having a feeling that here and now was somehow shut off from the world he had just been pulled from, and that no one would hear him anyways. The nausea and vertigo he was suffering at the moment was halted abruptly when the light around him lost it's menagerie of colors, growing a brighter and brighter white until Jack lost all sense of self, his mind becoming as blank as his surroundings before he fainted from the sheer overload of it all.

Back in the heat of the Sahara, the confusion had already set in.

"What...what just happened to him?" queried a frightened Kimiko, clinging to her boyfriend for some semblance of protection.

Holding the girl protectively close, Rai answered shakily, "I've got no idea, Kim..."

Clay, believing the worst, had removed his hat in respect, and Omi was simply too shocked to do much of anything but gape blankly at the spot where Jack had disappeared. Bean had taken up an evil cackle, and so far, everyone's reaction was fitting to the fifteen-year-old's sudden banishment; everyone's, that is, but Chase Young's.

At the moment he refused to make eye-contact with anyone, but it was impossible to miss the clenched fists and the low, menacing growl that pierced the air. Raising his head just enough to lock glowering red eyes with those of Hannibal, Chase bared his fangs in what could only be called 'unholy fury'. Deftly snatching up the bean, he demanded in a snarl, "What have you done with him?!"

Not at all put off by his current 'not-in-contact-with-the-ground' position, Bean smirked mockingly. "Well, well, Young, why the concern? You never cared for the boy anyhow, so you should just be happy he's gone, shouldn't you? Unless, that is," he taunted, "you have some sort of... _affection_ for the whelp."

Honestly shocked to the core by the sudden accusation, Chase dropped Hannibal to the ground before stepping away from the bean with a wary stare. His actions were met with raucous laughter. "Oh, ho ,ho, I knew it! You hid it well, Young, maybe even from yourself, but you couldn't keep such a thing from someone like _me_."

Chase sneered, "Don't be ridiculous! I _don't_ have feelings for..." He trailed off, images randomly flashing through his head: Jack's thin body held in his arms on the day they met, the red-head's hopeful smile as he attempted to get on Chase's good side, and of course, the tearfully glittering eyes as he was once again shot down. The thought the he might never see the teen again was suddenly more depressing than Chase could clearly recall _anything_ being in a long time, as well...No! This was preposterous! He _hated_ that annoying little insect...didn't he? Doubting his own stance on the issue _far_ too much for his own comfort, Chase snarled wordlessly at Hannibal one last time before disappearing to his castle. He had some thinking to do...

 

* * *

 

It was several hours later when Jack regained consciousness, and he was grateful to feel solid land underneath him...well, sort of, anyway. He was currently laying in a shallow pool of water, and completely soaked and freezing because of it. His white hair was uncomfortably plastered to his face by the residual dampness, to say nothing of his _entirely_ ruined eyeliner! Wait... _white_ hair? His fingers snatched up a waterlogged strand, and yes, it was indeed white, now. "Well," he thought to himself, "that's what I get for doing it the quick way."

Before the whole "Traverser's Pyramid" incident, Jack had been about to re-dye his hair to the signature red-orange color when the Wu had become active, forcing him to figure out a way to still arrive at the Showdown without looking like the total freak he saw himself as. His solution: non-permanent spray-on dye. It was cheap stuff, washable and often used for Halloween, but it would do until Jack got a chance to alter the coloring properly. Or at least, that _had_ been the plan, you know, before he had become the guinea pig for Hannibal Bean's shiny new Wu.

What had it done, anyways? Seeing his reflection in the moonlight that shone on the water, he could see he was unaffected physically, so maybe...his surroundings?

Moving himself out of the water, Jack took careful note of where he was and what the area looked like. The moon's position in the sky told him offhand that it was just around midnight, and from what little light it gave him, even the moon seemingly dimmed by the dark aura of the location, he was able to see that the water he had just dragged himself out of was a small oasis, complete with the stereotypical tree and everything. He was still surrounded by sand, but it wasn't the Sahara by any stretch of the imagination, unless, of course, the Sahara Desert had _black_ sand.

So, black sand, huh? Well, that wasn't too common, and Jack being as smart as he was shouldn't have had a problem figuring out his current location, but the desert, along with the area, was... _weird_. The black sand should have indicated that Jack was on a black sand beach, which would mean he was somewhere in Hawaii near to a volcano, but that couldn't have been the case; if that were true, there would be an ocean nearby to make it a beach, but other than the diminutive oasis, there was no water for miles! And if that weren't puzzling enough, from the looks of what little plant life that thrived around the shallow pool, he should have been somewhere in a more middle-eastern area, a far cry from the earlier suggested tropical islands. So, naturally, the only question on Jack's mind now...

"Where the hell am I?" he asked himself aloud.

"You, my boy, are trespassing in my kingdom, and that," the stern, deep voice from just behind Jack spoke, " _cannot_ go unpunished."


	2. Chapter 2

Jack whirled around to face the newcomer, more than unsettled that, in the large expanse of sand and nothing, he hadn't seen any kind of clue as to the man's approach.

The man himself, possibly in his late 30s, was even more unsettling than his sudden entrance, mainly because of the air of power he held. His chesnut-brown hair was long, tied in the back while his shaggy bangs hung in his eyes, this saying nothing of the two long strands that were draped over his strong shoulders from either side of his head. Just at his hairline was a golden band reminiscent of a crown, which, by the look of his attire, was fitting enough; he wore a rich-looking tunic of a deep red shade, embroidered on all edges in gold, holding true as well for the strip of cloth that continued on over his legs in both back and front of him while the rest of the shirt stopped at the brown belt tied around his waist. His dark, loose pants were tucked into his leather boots, and when Jack gained the nerve to look at his eyes, he was met with the same shade of red his own irises boasted of.

"Wh-who are you?" he questioned in a quivering voice, half from the shell-shock of the man's appearance, half from the fear of what this person could do to hurt him.

"My name is Destane, and as I said, you are trespassing here." This man was clearly not one to be trifled with, obvious from the stern expression and no-nonsense tone.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry, I'm kind of lost, so maybe if you could just point the way out of here, I'd gladly-"

" _No_ , boy," Destane interjected, "I am not so lenient as to allow you to go free."

His left hand glowed red, and a wooden staff engraved with runes and topped with a diamond-cut ruby materialized into his fingers. The staff itself then glowed as it was slammed against the sand, sending a vermillion ripple through the blackness of the ground.

Hearing the shifting of the sand on either side of him, Jack looked against his better judgement in complete and utter horror as two towering figures emerged from the ground. Literally at the point where he was too terrified to scream, the albino could only give a frightened squeak when the cold, blue-skinned corpses curled their patchwork, bony limbs around him to hold him in place. The clammy flesh so close to his own was enough to make pure instinct for survival take reign over Jack's being, and he found himself thrashing and fighting the grip with all he had.

When he felt the arm hold him from the right side give way, his first thought was that he had managed to free himself on that side, but there was something wrong about it; though he wasn't being held _back_ anymore, he still felt the hold of a hand on him! Looking, he saw that the arm _was_ still holding him, but it was no longer attached to the thing Jack could now only identify as a zombie, and was instead hanging lopsidedly from his upper arm.

The pure shock of the occurrence kept the teen paralyzed just long enough for the zombie, who was dressed similarly to a palace-guard for a Sultan of some sort, Jack realized, to use it's other hand to pop the arm back into it's proper socket before tightening the already iron-grip it had on him.

Destane stood in front of him now, hands behind his back as he stared down at his new captive. "What's your name, boy?"

Not wanting to agitate the necromancer _any_ further, the goth quickly and as respectfully as he was able to answered, "Jack Spicer, sir."

"Your age?"

"Fifteen."

"Hmm, a little young to be wandering the Land of the Black Sands, aren't you?"

Forcing the tremors in his voice down, Jack replied, "With all due respect, sir, I don't even know what _universe_ I'm in right now."

Destane carried on as if he hadn't heard, "Do you have any family?"

"Yes; a mother and father, no siblings." Jack could tell that this man was intolerant of insolence, and if he had any wish to see the next sunrise, he would give him whatever information he asked for whenever he asked for it.

"Any family that would come looking for you?"

About to say 'yes', once his parents actually noticed he was gone, of course, Jack stopped himself, realizing that if even _he_ didn't know where he was, his mother and father wouldn't have a chance in hell of figuring it out. He spoke dejectedly, expecting nothing but death from the line of questioning, replying, "No, sir."

For the first time since he'd shown up, Destane smiled; granted, a bit of a malicious smile, but a smile nontheless. "Perfect..." the man chuckled. "But from now on, you are to call me 'master'."

Jack's head shot up in surprise. "Huh?"

"Yes, Jack, you will call me 'master' from now on, because from now on, you will be my personal slave."

"What?! But I-you-I mean...that is to say-"

"Cease your babbling, boy! You will do as you are told! And _this_ ," Destane growled, wrapping his fingers around Jack's throat, "will see to that."

The red glow that signaled the sorcerer's use of magic enveloped the man's hand and, once he was pleased with his action, faded away again. Now, instead of nothing, there was a thick silver collar around the goth's neck, decorated only by a single black stud in the shape of a skull.

Jack's hands, suddenly released by the undead servants, immediately flew to the cool metal, inspecting the encumbrance thoroughly with his fingers. "What is this? What did you do to me?!"

"That is an enchanted collar, and as long as I live, it will ensure that you are unable to defy any of my direct orders."

"What?! You can't just enslave me on a whim!" the teen exclaimed, forgetting caution in his moral outrage. "I won't be some weirdo's freaking toady! I _refuse_ to be your slave!"

"Silence, boy!" Destane snapped angrily.

"No! I won't—aah!" Jack yelped as several sharp points drove into his neck hard enough to severely wound. He dropped to his knees at the sudden pain, bringing a hand to his collar and gasping when he felt his own hot blood dripping down his chest from beneath the solid silver.

"And _that_ would be the obedience part. Whenever you get it in your head to disobey me, those spikes will pierce your flesh, and the longer you disobey, the deeper they'll go. _But_ when you listen, they will stay retracted, so as I'm sure you've deduced by now, it's in you best interests to do as I say." Sure enough, the spikes had gone back into the collar when Jack had stopped talking back, whether voluntarily or not, though the pain _definitely_ remained. "So, boy, are you ready to stop resisting your fate, now?"

Jack took a moment to think over his situation: he was clearly, at this point, stranded in another world with no resources or assistance to fall back on and no way home; this man, though apparently crazy, was offering him shelter in exchange for his service, and even if he were to refuse the offer, the collar that had been forced on him would just make him do as the sorcerer commanded anyways; he had no alternative to removing the metal band but in Destane's death because there was no lock he could pick and, without his machines or robots, no way to cut through it. The only fitting word to describe the situation was 'hopeless'.

Jack sighed heavily. "Yes, Master Destane."

 

* * *

 

Back at the Xiaolin Temple, Master Fung had begun informing his students on his discovery of the use of the Traverser's Pyramid.

"So you see, this Shen Gong Wu has the power to transport the user or victim of it to any point in space and time, quite obviously a dangerous ability to have."

"So then where is Jack Spicer?"

"Regrettably, Omi, since Hannibal Bean used the Pyramid without a specific destination in mind, there is no way to know where or when he ended up...unless, of course, one were to call upon the Wu itself to locate him and follow him through the fabric of reality, but that is an unlikely option at this point. "

"So...unless we can get the Traverser's Pyramid from Bean, Jack can never come back?" Kimiko asked the group once their master had left.

"Well, it's certainly shapin' up t'be that way." Clay's tone was as dead as Omi's and Kimiko's were as he spoke; Jack had been their enemy, but he had been something more than that, almost a friend. Well, more of a frienenemy, but the point was that right now he was being missed more than anyone had predicted he would've been.

"No way! Come on, guys, we can't just give up! We can get it back, and then Jack, too, right?" Raimundo's miniature pep-talk did nothing to inspire his friends, who didn't do anything but give him blank stares. "Oh, fine then, we'll just sit here and mope about it," he huffed, plopping onto the floor with the others.

"Sounds like fun," snarked Kimiko, after which an uncomfortable silence took reign over the room.

From within the shadows of the temple, Chase once more retreated to his castle with his newfound knowledge, thinking hard on the best way to go about handling the current situation.

 

* * *

 

Jack remained quiet as he followed his new master to his new home, too engrossed in his own jumbled thoughts and in the current scenery for any kind of retaliation or reaction.

He couldn't fully believe it; he had practically sold himself into slavery without so much as a fight! His life was no longer his own, and he was the equivalent of so much property! And to think, today had started _normally!_

The other half of him, however, was highly intrigued at this point due to just where it was he was being led. It was a dark, slightly-dilapidated spoof of a city, completely deserted unless one counted the zombie guards, which Jack had learned from Destane on the way that they were called Mamluks, and from the looks of things, they had been the only inhabitants for _quite_ awhile. And of course, if the abandoned town hadn't caught his attention, then the large grey citadel that towered over the whole place _certainly_ did the trick.

From what he could gather of the building style of the stronghold, Arabic in design as a match to the deserted town's buildings, Jack finally felt that he could make a better assumption as to where he'd ended up.

It was clear enough that it was, in general, an Arabian desert area, in times far before any particularly modern advances in technology, so as far as Jack could figure, the Wu had sent him to the past of another world. Some may have argued that it was _just_ the past, but the young genius knew for sure that in _his_ world, there was _never_ any record of black sand deserts, something there was at least _one_ of here. But then, did it really matter where and when he was if he still couldn't figure out how to get home? Well, if he was going to fit in, yes, but here, with only Destane as company, he doubted the importance of _that_.

Finally at the large wooden doors of the building, which Jack noted were decorated with twin snakes, both slave and master halted. With a regal wave of his staff, the doors swung open for Destane, revealing an interior as dark and plain as the outside of the citadel, notable only for the fiery-looking throne in the midst of the main room, presumably the necromancer's.

Screeching from a dark corner of the room, a bat darted out towards the two, alighting upon the older man's left shoulder, to which Destane didn't so much as flinch.

At Jack's questioning gaze towards the creature, he clarified, "This is my familiar, Khoury. He will show you to your quarters, and tomorrow you will be given your list of tasks to be completed for me."

As the man stiffly marched away somewhere, Jack took up following the screeching bat down at least twenty corridors to what would be his room from now on.

Looking it over, he saw it was sparse and dull as the rest of the place, but it had a bathroom attached and, as far as Jack was concerned at the late hour, the main necessity: a bed.

Allowing himself to fall limply to the cushioned furniture, the teenager sighed mentally.

"Settle in, Jack," he thought to himself, "you're gonna be here _awhile_."


	3. Chapter 3

The afternoon of the next day found Jack on his knees scrubbing the built up grime off of a hard stone floor, something he was sure without a doubt would take all day. Now that the citadel's torches were lit, the place looked awful, dirty, and dusty, and being completely honest, it was shocking that there wasn't mold and fungi growing _everywhere_ by now! Jack didn't quite know what Destane's _freaking problem_ was to allow it to get this bad, but it was like he didn't even _live_ here, because if he really lived here, he'd have probably choked on the dust by now!

Earlier in the day, the crack of dawn to be exact, Jack had been rudely awakened to a jab in the throat for disobeying his master's order to wake up by...well, being asleep. It wasn't as vicious as it had been the night before since it was apparently not a high-priority order and a minor offense, but still, definitely not the most _fun_ way to wake up.

In any case, after he had basically fallen out of bed at Destane's feet, he had been hit in the face with his new wardrobe, a plain and simple black outfit, and then instructed to get dressed and meet him back in the throne room when he had done so.

He _had_ , with no complaint other than a few grumbles and muttering once Destane had left, and when Jack had arrived at the throne on which his master sat so rigidly, he had been ordered to have the _whole palace_ cleaned by the time he returned from whatever outing he had then left on.

Needless to say, his first thought was a particularly nasty curse-word. Regardless, he had gotten started immediately knowing it would take quite awhile, and he was now actually halfway done already. But that, Jack figured, might've had something to do with his borderline-psychotic need for all things around him to be in order.

Sitting back on his heels, he paused to inspect his current task's overall progress, happily noting that the floor in this room was nearly done. And surely, he thought, he deserved a quick break, at least to get the kinks out of his spine, right? He set down the worn rag he had been using and sighed deeply, running a hand tiredly through his hair, that is, _until_ he felt the familiar digging of metal into his neck. Oh, well, so much for his break, then.

 

* * *

 

Chase glared angrily at the pyramid in his hand, no longer crystal, but inexplicably clouded by a sort of fog. He had to admit it wasn't his style to outright steal a Shen Gong Wu from even _Hannibal Bean_ , but then it wasn't his style to steal one with the intent of helping Jack Spicer, either, now was it?

But there was a problem: the Wu wouldn't show him where Jack had been sent, and there was only one reason that could explain why, one Chase had been dreading.

Jack had been sent somewhere or when in which he was needed, had some explicit purpose in, and since this particular Wu was unable to interfere with what fate had set into motion, it would not reveal his whereabouts until that purpose was fulfilled.

Chase then dropped his glare, for only a moment, but in that brief second, his face showed concern, concern for Jack's safety. But then the expression returned as quick as it had gone, leaving no trace of what had been only a moment ago.

He couldn't believe he was even _thinking_ about helping Jack! The boy acted like a complete idiot almost constantly so why would he want to...No. He _may_ have been an idiot, but he was...

" _My_ idiot..."

 

* * *

 

 When the hour began to draw late, and Jack was in the middle of organizing the books in the study, Destane returned home.

"Still not finished, I see."

The teen gasped, nearly dropping the books in surprise as he turned to face his master and his master's winged familiar. "Master Destane! I-I'm sorry I haven't finished, I'll-I'll keep cleaning all night if I have t-"

"No."

"Huh?" Jack was baffled at the curt answer, and even more so that his collar hadn't skewered him yet for being unable to complete his task.

"You've done enough for today; you shall finish the rest tomorrow."

"Oh..." the younger lay the books down, shuffling his feet awkwardly. "Then, can I-"

"You are free to return to your room."

"Thank you, Master Destane." He bowed to the man respectfully before quickly leaving the room.

For the next year, that was Jack's life: Destane would leave somewhere for the better part of the day (the specifics of where Jack didn't know; he wasn't told, and he didn't ask), and he would be expected to do all sorts of domestic tasks until his master returned. During that year, after he completed the initial disinfecting of the citadel, it was left to him to maintain it; laundry, cooking (mainly for Destane, it was rare _he_ got a meal, and when he did, it was relatively minuscule), tidying up, the list of menial chores went on. By far, though, his favorite task had become reorganizing Destane's laboratory, something required daily because of the man's haphazard use of the area. Why was it his favorite? Because it was during those hours when he had learned _magic_.

Not a lot, mind you, just bits and pieces, and Destane obviously had no idea, but it was the only outlet that had thus far kept him from withdrawing into a living Mamluk. You see, his master had a tendency to leave his many tomes and scrolls open when he abandoned them, and Jack just couldn't resist such an open invitation to learn something new. From the little he had gotten to read, he had learned many things, ranging from griffin biology to the ingredients necessary for a love potion and even high-level offensive spells, the latter of which he had tested and finally perfected on his master's mutated failed experiments.

Destane had so many of them anyway that he didn't even notice or care when they 'suddenly' dropped dead. Yes, it had been difficult at first to cope with the murder of helpless, sickened animals and he felt horrible about it for a long time, but when a raccoon with a lizard tail and a fish-eye, to say nothing of how mismatched it's internal organs must've been, had wheezed out a 'thank you' in it's last moments, Jack had seen that this was more often than not a mercy for the poor creatures, almost a godsend. These things had been captured, sliced open and changed by magic and chemicals until their entire existence was nothing but pain and caged misery. Even if the were freed, they would never be accepted back into a normal life and, due to their new physical detractions, would be easily caught and killed by vicious predators. More than half of the sickly things couldn't even _move_ of their own power any more.

In any case, though, Jack had finally gotten a chance to feel useful through his minor practice of magic, despite the unfortunate physically-draining aspect of it. Of course, it wouldn't be draining him if he had what was known in the sorcerer's circle as a 'conduit', that is to say, a base source and conductor for magic. Like Destane's staff, a conduit was basically a never-ending pool of magic, from which any practitioner of such could draw on as the driving force behind spells of any means, whether an attack or something as simple as summoning a trinket from across the room, without the need to fuel it with their own lifeforce.

In short, using magic without a conduit could be a dangerous thing, deadly, even, and from the research he had managed, Jack knew this well enough. But he didn't care; so long as he didn't tax his body _too_ badly, he would at least live, if not in the best of spiritual health.

And so it was that by the end of his first year with Destane, Jack had fallen so completely into the dull routine of his new life that only what happened one dreary, dark day had enough force to shock him out of it.

It was an otherwise usual day, several hours after Destane had left and he had finished all his chores, when Jack had headed to the lab with full intent to read up on basilisks, a subject he felt he wouldn't know enough about in case of an unavoidable confrontation. Although, because he hadn't left the citadel since he had first arrived, it was likely he wouldn't need the information unless a basilisk actually crashed _through_ the wall, but then, is it not best to err on the side of caution?

He hadn't gotten far, though, when he paused, hearing a strange noise, stranger than usual, from the cages where the failed experiments were kept. Curiosity getting the better of him, Jack decided to investigate, and was shocked at what he saw.

A specimen was not only more than half-conscious, but was struggling in it's small cage so spiritedly and vivaciously that it seemed impossible that there was anything wrong with it! From the way it was fighting at the iron bars, it was hard for Jack to make out details but for a few things about the creature: it seemed to be elongated in the manner of a snake, and it's whipcord body writhed and thrashed almost constantly, a rosy taupe blur to Jack's eyes as he watched it. The tip of it's tail apparently wouldn't fit in the too-small confinement, and the dark indigo frills, possibly fins, at the end of it twitched with every movement the thing made. The same kind of frill trailed along the back and possibly the sides(Jack couldn't be sure _what_ it was along the sides, only that it was the same deep purple as the rest of the membrane-like material he had seen) of the creature, and it's teeth were jagged and sharp, though useless in their current effort, as they gnawed without success at the cage.

This thing...it was different than the others, Jack could _feel_ it. It was stronger, more determined, _better_ than the other failed mutatees. This was not a failure at all, it _couldn't_ be! No, this was a success, but because it was here, Destane must not have realized it. Jack couldn't let this spunky little thing die here, he just _couldn't_ , not _this_ one!

Raising a hand towards the trapped animal, Jack, over the noises and snarls it made as it attempted to free itself, spoke a spell he had never actually seen himself needing, " _Fumeo!_ "

The cold iron encasement then vanished in a puff of smoke, dissipating into the air as Jack, though _almost_ what he would qualify as dizzy from the use of magic, snatched up the no-longer captive experiment. With the way the lithe thing had been about to dart away, it was shocking that the youth had caught it at all, but then, you'd be surprised at what catching _certain bats_ in the kitchen did for one's reflexes.

Of course, it was _then_ that Destane had chosen to return, and, from the throne room, to bellow for his slave-boy.

"Jack!"

The teenager gasped in surprise before becoming resolute in his intent, forcing the wriggling critter he held into his long black sleeve as he hissed the command, "Be quiet!" at it, internally praying it understood what he said for _both_ of their sakes. It seemed to comprehend, because it dropped completely silent before coiling it's body around Jack's arm, as if it knew that it would minimize it's chance of being discovered under the loose sleeve of cloth, which was more than a slight possibility that it did know; the gothic slave had _known_ there was something special about this one, and it's instant comprehension of his words and the nature of the situation was _already_ proving his instincts right.

Within minutes, Jack was in the throne room, kneeling at his master's feet. "Yes, Master Destane?"

"You may stand, boy." He did so, noting with relief that the experiment around his arm hadn't so much as twitched so far. "Have you finished your duties, yet?"

"Yes, master."

"Good. You have two hours to yourself before you will begin cooking dinner, understand?"

"Of course, master."

"Then begone with you!"

Not wanting to agitate his master and thus his collar, Jack bowed to the man before taking his leave.

Once the door to his room was shut, he spoke calmly but not without relief, "It's alright now, you can come out."

It was now completely obvious to the teenager that what he had just rescued understood him when it slipped from his sleeve to hover in front of his face without any hesitation once the words were said. Wait a minute...hover? So the thing could apparently float in the air, then; Jack had seen weirder. Now that it was mostly still, it was easier for him to make out some of the more intricate details of it.

It was apparently an eel of some sort, complete with gills that must have only been able to filter air now, or else it would have suffocated long ago without water. The dark purplish color along it's back _had_ been a frill, but the two on it's left and right were fins, another mutation obviously, because no eel he could think of had such fins, and from the motion of them, they could move to the same effect of a human arm and hand, although gripping and holding things would be impossible with no muscle-strength or fingers to the flimsy appendage. It's underbelly was a pale tan color that stretched from tail to what was most likely the neck before it petered back into the brownish color the rest of the thing was. It's face, though, really drew his attention; human-like lips and mouth, potentially capable of speech, along with two eyes, one small and bloodshot with a beady black pupil, and the other at least twice the size of it's match, giving a lopsided appearance to the eel, with a visible iris around the pupil (something the opposite eye couldn't boast) colored just barely too pink to be called red.

Jack figured he'd finally lost it when his mind labeled the thing as 'cute'.

Well, crazy or not, he decided to attempt conversation with the odd-looking eel.

"Are you okay?"

It only nodded, staring suspiciously at the white-haired teenager as if he recognized him.

"Well...can you talk then?" he tried.

"I talk..." the speech was a bit choppy, not to mention raspy, but being that this eel, male from the sound of it, shouldn't have even been able to speak _at all_ , Jack counted it as a win for the thing. He suddenly raised a fin, snapping it in a parody of human fingers. "You slave-boy for wizard!"

"You've seen me?" Jack was astonished that he apparently recognized him from somewhere, when he himself had only _just_ discovered the eel minutes before.

He nodded, verifying the other's statement before going on to clarify, "Reading. Saw you from cage."

"So then, why didn't you talk to me or something?"

"Couldn't, gagged. Chewed free, though!"

"Oh. So, do you have a name, then?" the slave asked, honestly curious.

The eel's expression drooped at the query, saddened. "No name."

"What about a family?"

"No family."

"Oh, it's alright," Jack brushed his fingers over the eel's smooth body, "we're in the same boat on that one."

"Slave-boy...no have family?"

"Not anymore, and my name is Jack. You should probably have a name, too, now that I think of it. I can't just call you 'Eel-thing'...Hey, would you want _me_ to name you?"

His eyes lit up and he curled and twisted around in the air excitedly. "Name! Name! Yes!"

Jack laughed. "Alright, alright, calm down, I'm thinking. Hmm...Seif? No...Reyhan? No..." He suddenly gasped, exclaiming, "I've got it! How do you like _Xerxes_?"

The eel giggled with a sharp-toothed grin. "Xerxes like! Xerxes like!"

"I'm glad," the teen smiled, "but _I_ have to go make dinner, now."

"Hm?" Xerxes tilted his head in confusion. "But wizard say two hours; can't have been more than two _minutes_!"

"That's true, but the sooner I do it for him, the sooner it's out of the way, and I have the rest of the night off, right? Besides, I'll sneak something back for you to eat." Jack moved closer to the door, laying his palm on the handle. "Just stay here until I come back, and Destane will be none the wiser." He was about to leave for the kitchen when Xerxes stopped him.

"Wait, Jack!"

Turning, he saw the eel with his head bowed to him. "You gave Xerxes name, saved life! Xerxes promise loyalty to you...master."

Jack was shocked into silence for a moment until his mind could actually process the statement, at which point he burst out laughing. "A slave as a master; what a stupid irony!"

"Xerxes serious!" he insisted vehemently. "Always be loyal to you, master!"

"Well, alright," Jack consented to the eel, "if you really mean it then, I'll be your master, but right now, _your_ master has to go do some grunt work for _his_ master, so...just don't eat my bed or anything."

He snickered devilishly, showing off his pointed fangs. "Xerxes good, promise!"

From that moment on, the two had become quite close, Xerxes being one who shared in Jack's mildly disturbing sense of humor, yet didn't mind being the target of his temper when he was displeased. Xerxes had actually gotten to know his master so well that he tended to finish some of his sentences, and after roughly two weeks of knowing each other, they had only had one confrontation. All that had really happened was Jack using a few choice words on Xerxes after Destane had made a particularly foamy mess in his lab, and left the young slave to clean it up. He had apologized to the eel afterwards, explaining that he had a tendency of getting _mean_ when frustrated by something, and if he had taken it out on Destane, he might've been blasted by some kind of magic or worse. He had acknowledged that it was no excuse and that he was sorry if he had hurt Xerxes's feelings too badly, to which the eel simply accepted the apology with a smile and curled himself around his master's shoulders as he often did.

Things could have continued on in this manner easily until Destane would have died of old age, that is, of course, had fate not once again intervened in the life of Jack Spicer.

It was an unheard of event since Jack's arrival that Destane got visitors of any sort, but nonetheless, one was dragged in by the Mamluks out of nowhere one day.

Jack had watched from the sidelines as the figure was thrown to the ground in front of his master, and the hood of the cloak they were wearing pulled back to reveal a dark-haired, tan woman wearing a bejewelled crown and very expensive looking earrings. It was obvious she was of some kind of high-standing, only confirmed more so as Destane addressed her.

"Well, well, the Sultana of Agrabah! To what do I owe this visit?"

The woman sneered, "Don't play the fool, Destane, it doesn't suit you! You know well why I have come here: to eliminate the threat you have become to my people."

She pulled a sword from her cloak and rushed at Destane, who raised his staff to counter her with his magic. Although, the sorcerer had _not_ been counting on the Sultana to knock him over with a solid strike to his knees using a hidden staff of her own, then throwing his conduit halfway across the room.

As the woman stood over him, sword poised to deliver the man's death, Jack's mind went into shock, forcing his every thought into saving his master from this fate. His body reacted on it's own, raising a hand at the woman and instinctively calling out, " _Incendium mortuus!_ "

The woman's body had convulsed violently as it was engulfed in black flames, her pained screech echoing throughout the citadel until there was nothing left of the poor woman but badly scorched bones.

Destane stood, giving the remains of the Sultana an uncaring glance before retrieving his staff and standing menacingly over Jack. "Well, it looks like someone has been getting into things he shouldn't have."

Jack, having come back to himself when he had been hit with the _massive_ drain of the spell he had just used, dropped to his knees in front of his master, pleading, "I'm sorry, master, I was just-"

"Sorry for what, boy?"

"I-well-For using magic?"

Destane was silent for a moment, until he began, "You know, Jack, I am an _evil_ sorcerer, in case you haven't yet guessed. That out in the open, I'd like to know if you were aware of the use of that spell when you cast it? Did you know it would kill her?"

The youth nodded halfheartedly, too fatigued from his abrupt loss of spiritual energy to do much of anything else.

"Well, then, I'm going to miss my slave, if only a bit."

Jack closed his eyes, waiting for death to come, only to jump, surprised, as he felt the weight around his neck that came from his collar disappear.

"But I believe I will like my new apprentice even better."

"Apprentice?! But-I-Master, I don't understand."

Destane then smiled possibly the most sincere smile he had ever smiled in his life, laying a strong hand on Jack's shoulder. "You, as a beginner, performed one of the most advanced spells there is without the aid of a conduit, and you're still conscious. Though it's true I am displeased that you went behind my back to learn what you did, I am not so foolish as to ignore such potential when I see it. Go to your room for now and rest, because tomorrow I will begin your training...my apprentice."


	4. Chapter 4

"Your first lesson, Jack, is wordless casting. Do you have any idea why I have chosen this one in particular, my apprentice?"

Jack thought carefully for a moment before posing, "The element of surprise, master?"

"Yes, that is _exactly_ why, Jack! Against those with no knowledge of magic, there is no flaw in the vocalizing of spells because they have no way to counter it, regardless of whether or not they know what they will be up against, but there _will_ come a time when you won't be facing an ordinary mortal; you will face another sorcerer or sorceress like yourself. They will know all the spells that you know, and if they were to know what attack you used when you used it, it wouldn't be difficult for them to counter it, you understand?"

"Yes, master: If I learn to cast spells without speaking, then even a magical opponent won't know what's coming until it hits them."

"Excellent, boy, your mind is sharp. That's a good quality to have. Now," Destane snapped his fingers and a Mamluk moved to stand in front of Jack, "let's start with a basic offensive spell, blue lightning. I want you to concentrate intently on the spell and what you want to happen; pour all of your focus into it and will it to reality."

Jack's eyes closed as he obeyed Destane's order, visualizing the corpse in front of him before he raised his arm towards the Mamluk with the thought, " _Fulminum caeruleum!_ "

The familiar tingle coursed down his arm (no longer draining his own energy because of the small necklace he had been given for a conduit) and, opening his eyes, the teen watched as an electric-blue bolt of energy shot from his fingertips into the undead's chest, causing it's stitched-together limbs to burst from the torso and land with a dull thud on the floor in front of him. It was odd, to say the least, that's it's dark eyes kept blinking even as the head rolled up to Jack and stopped just shy of his feet, but the sorcerer's apprentice found himself more disgusted at the weakness of this thing to be blown to pieces by such a low-level spell, and so only sneered at the slightly-decomposed face before kicking it carelessly away.

Destane laughed, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "Very good, my boy, only you could manage to learn both meanings of this lesson! You were not only able to master the skill on your first try, but you discovered the hidden message: anything weaker than you deserves none of your pity, because those that are weaker than you are only _practice_."

Jack's eyes gained an odd gleam as the sentence began burning itself into his mind. "Of course, master."

"Now with practice, it won't take as much concentration to use that skill, and casting will become as second nature as breathing to you. For today, though, I will introduce as many new concepts as possible to you, and once that is done, _then_ we will begin...field testing them."

And Destane had been true to his word, taking Jack on one of his usual outings the very next day, of course having his young apprentice cleaned up a bit first.

It had been mildly shocking for Jack to see himself in a mirror, when forced into Destane's master bedroom and instructed to borrow what he wanted until his master could acquire him his _own_ wardrobe, mainly because of how...different he looked now.

His last visual memory of himself had included bright red and spiky hair and a relatively average physical build, but it was so no longer. His stark white hair had grown a bit, just past his shoulders now, in addition to the adoption of waves and one or two curls in it, more than likely a reaction of his hair to the desert heat. His body had become lightly muscled from his strenuous upkeep of the castle, but he had become _much_ thinner from lack of meals, too, and as a result, along with his partially exposed ribs (the part he _wasn't_ proud of), his limbs had become longer and more slender in appearance while still managing to maintain a sense of elegance to them, in contrast to his previous 'awkward teenager' look.

All in all, with his longer hair, more shapely form, and of course the way his dark lashes framed his ruby-red eyes, Jack found himself kinda _pretty_ , now.

In any case, though, Jack had eventually settled on a dark blue outfit with Xerxes's help (who had snuck along in his master's sleeve again), when the eel had told him it was his color, and, looking in the mirror again, the albino was inclined to agree before sending Xerxes back to the room he shared with the creature and setting off with Destane.

After about an hour or so of walking through a scorching normal-sand desert, as Jack called them in his head now, master and apprentice were brought to their current location, the menacing, obsidian cave that was now gaping in front of them. Jagged, spikes of rock protruded from the ground and the bleached skeletons of human and animal alike lie still on the sand, as if in warning.

"Tell me, master, why are we here?" Jack sensed the need for quiet at the moment and so kept his voice low enough to support his caution without seeming as if he was whispering from fear.

"We are here, Jack," his master spoke softly also, "to retrieve a particularly plentiful treasure. But as with everything, there is a catch, and so this treasure is guarded by a vicious dragon, who, as you can see," he gestured to their reasonably-dead company, "does not tolerate thieves."

"So," Jack questioned, "what is it you expect me to do, then?"

"Wise question, my boy, you certainly are a clever one to say 'me' instead of 'we'. What _you_ are expected to do is to get that treasure, without any help from _me_ whatsoever."

Jack nodded. "Fair enough. Get past a bloodthirsty, flesh-rending dragon as a novice wizard completely on his own. No problem." This was said as partial sarcasm, but also to give himself a minuscule confidence boost for his upcoming task.

Destane chuckled quietly. "Don't sell yourself short, Jack, you're far better than a novice. If anything, you're just short of expert-level, an experienced amateur."

"Experienced? What experience do I have? This is the first time I've even left your castle, Destane."

"You know what I mean, apprentice, you are at the magical level of someone with experience. You _will_ be able to handle this as you see fit, I'm sure, but if you aren't I will step in for you, alright?"

Another nod, this time more confident. "Okay...yeah...I can do this. "

This coerced a rather pleased smirk from Destane. "Good. I shall be watching you, then." he said before vanishing in a flash of red magic.

Jack took a deep breath to calm his nerves as he forced his brain to work at as full-capacity as it could. "It would be easier if I didn't have to do this alone...Wait, that's it!" he thought.

Remembering one of the lessons from yesterday, Jack focused his magic together, then allowing it to disperse amongst the bright white bones that littered the ground. In response to the black and blue glow, apparently the base-color of his magic, like Destane's red shade, the remains rose, reforming by pairs (Mamluks were physically larger than most humans, and it often took at least two average-sized bodies to make one of the undead entities) into their original humanoid shapes as muscle tissue, flesh, and joints materialized onto them along with the trademark guard clothes.

Now with his entourage of servants behind him, four to be exact, Jack found himself completely ready to tackle his task, and forged forwards into the dark cave.

From his location, Destane smiled at his apprentice's solution to make his slaves handle the physical work in order to make up for the shortcomings he still had in that department.

It didn't take long for Jack to find the dragon, sleeping soundly in front of what proved to truly be a magnificent treasure, garnished with all kinds of gold, gems, and shiny trinkets, but it was truly the dragon that drew the eye away from such sparkling beauty.

It was a huge beast, horns made of solid gold along with it's claws and presumably it's teeth as well, and it's thick scales were a snow white color that lacked any hint of impurity to them, and despite the fact that this reptile could tear him to pieces as soon as glance at him, Jack couldn't help but find it beautiful.

It reminded him of another dragon he had left behind in a previous life _far_ too much for his tastes.

Regardless of this, he mentally signaled to his Mamluks to retrieve as much of the treasure as they could carry out, which, when one considered the true strength of the feeble-looking cadavers, was quite a lot. Things were going well, so far, and his slaves, whose mouths were sewn shut anyways, didn't look like they would be making any dragon-awakening noises.

Of course, knowing Jack's luck, the dragon chose the moment to awaken on it's own.

Letting out a ferocious roar, the beast fanned his wings out fully, raising on his hackles to swipe a hard claw at the Mamluks, causing them to fall to pieces under the force of the hit. The bared teeth, gold as Jack had thought as well as the large, angry eyes that locked onto him, formed a snarl as the dragon defended his treasure hoard against the youth's threat with an incinerating blast of fire.

Luck suddenly with him, Jack managed a shielding spell to block the inferno, though he was sure the sulfuric smell might _never_ leave him, before rolling himself away from the stream of fire.

Before he quite knew what was happening, Jack had the wind knocked out of him by a ridiculously strong blow to the chest and abdomen, and when he saw the glint of gold on either side of his head and the meeting of white-scaled claws just under his throat, he realized that the dragon had gotten him pinned under it's huge paw.

His eyes met those of the reptile far above him, and involuntarily, his mind flashed back, hearing a voice he hadn't heard for over a year in his head.

"Are you scared, Jack?" it asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?!"

"Ha! Just like you to be afraid of this. You always _were_ too weak to actually be worth anything!"

"Sh-shut up! I'm useful, damn you!"

"Prove it then, Spicer, show me you _aren't_ worthless, and then I might believe you."

"But...there's no _way_ I can get out of this!"

"Hmph," the voice scoffed, "I knew it. You'll always be a frightened little weakling, won't you? A frightened little weakling who's going to be beaten by something bigger than you, as per usual."

Destane, as he watched, thought to himself, "Come on, Jack, there is no room for fear, not this time. No fear!"

"No..." Jack thought, "it won't end like this...no!"

His eyes snapped open, not even seeing the killing burst coming due to the black and blue light streaming from both eyes and mouth as the magic and rage he felt overtook his body almost completely, the sudden force stirring the air around him so violently that it toyed with his hair and clothing as if caught in a windstorm.

Pulling a hand out from under the heavy white scales and raising it towards the oncoming fire, only one thought coursed through his head.

" _Only practice._ "

The explosion was almost deafening when the two forces collided, and the light almost blinding as the shockwave of power nearly collapsed the entire cave.

When the light cleared though, Jack stood, extremely dizzy and unsteady on his feet, but much better off than the dragon, his head blown clean off by the blast.

A soft clapping came from just behind Jack, and when the tired youth turned to look, it was his master applauding him. "Congratulations, Jack, you destroyed the dragon."

"Heh...yeah...I did, didn't I?" his voice was breathless, and just after he spoke, he fell forward limply into his master's arms.

"Tell me, Jack, how do you feel right now?" Destane asked, holding the teenager securely against him.

Having regained enough strength to stand of his own power now, the apprentice pulled away from his master, but did nothing else, head turned to the ground and his face obscured by his pale hair. "I feel..."

"Yes?" the elder of the two prompted.

"I feel..." Jack raised his head, a dark smile on his face and an almost sinister look in his eyes, "like I could get used to this."

Destane laughed, long and loud. "Now _that's_ the way an apprentice of mine should behave!"

After that day, Destane had truly taken Jack under his wing and treated him almost as if he were his son. The teenager had been given full access to his master's library and laboratory to satiate his curiosity and when Jack so much as mentioned something he wanted or needed, he often found it in his room as soon as the very next day! Destane taught him just about everything there was for him to know, magic, potions, and supposedly 'mythological' animals, diplomacy (not that, as a future _evil_ sorcerer, he would ever need _that_ skill), and even the proper aristocratic manner in which someone of Destane's, and therefore _his_ , status was to behave.

But then, one day, it all went awry.

Destane had gone out by himself, an unusual occurrence since he had begun training Jack, now eighteen years old, and when he returned, he had been...different, _drunk_.

And Jack had found out the hard way that Destane was a mean drunk.

So far, it had been going on for weeks now, the sorcerer would come home blind, stinking wasted, smack around the still physically-weaker than him Jack, and go pass out somewhere else while his apprentice occupied himself with tending whatever wounds that particular night had brought him. Sure, Destane would apologize the next morning with a magical trinket of some sort on his pillow or dresser, a belt of invisibility, a magical monkey paw, and all sorts of things like that, but it didn't, _couldn't_ erase the bruises and cuts on his body or the fact that the man went out again every night and repeated the same old process over again and again. What was worse for Jack was that there had been no sign, no reason for the man to start his alcoholic habit in the first place, and by all appearances, he was taking the fall for nothing.

Tonight had been lenient on Jack, though; a bruised throat (to match the scars from the obedience collar so long ago), a punch to the face, and a kick to the stomach once he'd been knocked down. Opening his door and forcing himself inside, quite a task if you were still as winded from the kick as he was, Jack flopped lifelessly onto his bed, wondering when, if at all, this would end. Destane was starting to be more reckless than Jack had ever known him, and for _that_ sorcerer, 'reckless' went hand in hand with 'violent'.

"Master alright?!" Xerxes's worried voice asked from somewhere to his left.

"Yes, Xerxes," he assured, trying to pull himeslf into a sitting position, "I'm-augh!" Unfortunately, Jack bruised very easily, and the bruise already forming on his stomach matched perfectly to the hand-shaped one around his neck and the fist-shaped one on his cheek, in dark color and in soreness.

"Master?!" Xerxes flitted worriedly about Jack for a moment before gently nuzzling his stomach with his snout.

Jack stroked the eel appreciatively as he gathered his bearings until he was able to sit cross-legged on his bed with Xerxes lying on his knee. "I'm fine, now, I'm fine...Destane kicks harder than you'd think..." he muttered, laying a hand over the tender muscles of his stomach.

Xerxes growled low in his throat. "Why mean wizard hurt master?"

Jack sighed. "Well, tonight, I was asking for it. See, he brought home a new relic for the collection, a powerful one."

The eel tilted his head, confused, as he questioned, "Powerful?"

"Yes, _really_ powerful. It's known only as 'The Gauntlet', and it doesn't look particularly special at all, just a plain leather glove, but I'm no fool, Xerxes. I've heard the rumors, and I've heard what it can do."

"Rumors? What rumors?"

"It is said that this gauntlet is a special kind of conduit, that it has the ability to give the wearer _immense_ power. Supposedly it can cleave mountains, split seas, and the list just goes on..."

"Master...want?"

"I don't know, Xerxes, but Destane caught me staring at it when he came home, so it was pretty much my fault tonight."

The brownish eel cuddled as best as it could against his uncooperative master, who was, at the moment, quite deep in thought.

"You know, Xerxes," Jack's voice pierced the silence of the room, "I think I _do_ want that gauntlet...With that kind of power, not even _Destane_ could hold a candle to me. I could-"

"No, master!" Xerxes interrupted. "Too dangerous! Master get hurt!"

Jack froze for a moment before he chuckled condescendingly at his now-18-inch servant. "Oh, Xerxes, _I_ won't be the one who gets hurt if I do this. Destane was a fool; he taught me _everything_ he knows, and no matter what he does, I know how to oppose him in it. It's been three years since I was first apprenticed to him, and his use to me is over now, I don't need him anymore. Don't you think," the youth smirked devilishly, "that it's time for the apprentice to succeed the master?"

Seeing the flawless logic that flowed through his master's mind as he envisioned it, Xerxes mimicked his master's demeanor with a wicked smile and a sinister cackle. "Jack master, Destane—"

" _Dead_." A dark gleam shadowed over Jack's eyes as he finished the sentence, his mind already planning his soon-to-be conquest.

It hadn't been hard to retrieve the gauntlet from it's hiding place first thing in the morning, and the minute Jack had pulled it over his right hand and forearm, and having torn off the cheap little necklace that just could not compare to _this_ conduit, it had simply felt _right_.

Shockingly too early for Destane to have been out drinking again, he had been sitting high and mighty on his throne when Jack had blasted the door open, Xerxes following close on his heels through the air.

As if he and his newly-declared familiar were the only ones there, the teenager had spoken, "Take a look around, Xerxes, this will be our palace soon enough."

Darting around the room, the eel had exclaimed, "Xerxes like!"

"Jack! What is the meaning of this?!"

"Oh, Destane," Jack began smoothly, raising his now-gloved hand for his former-master to see, "you really should have seen this coming. You taught me how to be truly ruthless, powerful, _evil,_ and then you start abusing me and think I won't fight back? No, _master_ ," he mocked, "you didn't teach me to take things such as that lying down."

"Jack, stop this at once! We-"

The demand was cut off with the words, "No! I don't take orders from you anymore!"

The gauntlet, so intune with Jack's own magic, lit up with black and blue fire, rimmed around the edges with a bright red color as the youth sent a powerful blast Destane's way, causing the man, who had stood from his throne with the shock of the situation, to go flying into a nearby wall.

For the first time, Jack laughed in what could've been considered a truly evil way, letting the dark joy he found in having his proud master helpless at his feet fuel his mirth into sound.

Standing over the man, Jack smiled a twisted smile, stating the classic line, "Look how the mighty have fallen!"

Destane, who looked pathetically afraid at this point, attempted to talk his student out of what he was doing. "Wait, Jack, you can't do this! If...if you're going to kill me, then you should at least know the consequences of using that gauntlet. It will destroy your body from the inside out if you use it, but know that first, it will take from you the very hand you use it with. The pain will be unbearable, boy, but you will only have to suffer it through continued use. I can show you how to-"

"You? Please!" Jack scoffed. "You've become nothing more than a glorified drunk! If I no longer respect you as a person, how am I to respect you as a master _ever_ again, hm?"

"Listen to me! That gauntlet will-"

"Destroy me, yes, that's been established, so now here's my response: I don't care. I _like_ this power, and nothing you could say or do will stop me from using it to _end your life_."

Destane stopped, face becoming furious as he glared at his former apprentice, regaining what little dignity he had lost in the heat of the moment. "Fine then, you ungrateful little bastard, kill me! But so long as you live, all will know you hide a black heart inside your chest the moment they see you, Jack!"

This was clearly a dying curse, but giving no care to this, he slit his master's throat with a dagger he'd been hiding on him before using the Mamluk spell to resurrect his master as a slave, making sure this one was identifiable ftom the rest of the Mamluks, with green skin and reddish robes, mainly because he wanted to remember that _this_ one had been his master for future reference.

Even as an inky blackness seeped through his hair and bled into his irises, Jack grinned as he spoke, "I'm _not_ Jack anymore. Call me... _Mozenrath_."


	5. Chapter 5

Jack, that is to say, _Mozenrath's_ life could not have been any better.

Well, that was a lie, it _could_ have been better, but so far, it was pretty good.

The Land of the Black Sands was a magical place, ruling citadel included, and the moment he had seized power, things had changed, altered to fit Mozenrath best. The fire-themed throne had immediately changed shape and color, into an iridescent bluish-green stone material, while the rest of the palatial abode had also undergone some major changes. Where it had once been plain and boring, the interior had adopted golden and criss-crossing moldings just above the now-marble flooring, and the walls had adorned themselves with a skull-like design in between every elegant column that ran up them, barring the occaisonal detailed mural that appeared in the stead of skulls. The entrance room, too, could now boast a floor mosaic, the moldings here reminiscent of masks one might see at a masquerade, of coiling snakes and other such things, lit from above by intricately-patterned lamps that glowed a deep, magical blue as they hung from chains on the ceiling.

Needless to say, the citadel was now far more suitable for the newly-made prince's tastes. And why not? This was his fresh start as a villain, a clean slate for cruelty, if you will, and Mozenrath was not going to let such a chance pass him by.

He had even changed his attire to better fit his new persona! Loose, royal blue cloth draped over his still-thin form (though he now had mostly regular meals, he still couldn't seem gain much weight), black shoes and a black strip of cloth with golden embroidery that fell over his chest and was tied at his waist with a deep red belt. A turban with a decorative ruby now hid most of his pulled-back hair, though a few obsidian curls still managed to escape, while bandages covered up the scars still left on his throat. A black and gold cape along with, of course, the leather Gauntlet of his magical power on his right hand, completed his new look. And Xerxes, too, made a perfect accessory, flitting and swooping about his master, being sure never to stray too far away.

It hadn't taken long, either, since his takeover for Mozenrath to become widely feared among the seven deserts, because within his first week as Lord of the Black Sands, he had enveloped at least four of the lands surrounding his into his own, increasing the size of his territory by many now dark-sanded miles. With every place he conquered, every town and city completely destroyed, his Mamluk army grew with the defeated, and now deceased, citizens. What could he say except that he had become an excellent strategist?

There was only one downside, at this point, and that was that Destane had proven to be truthful. His last curse had obviously not affected Mozenrath in as dire a way as he had hoped, only altering the coloring of his eyes and hair, but what he had said about the Gauntlet was entirely correct. The magical glove drew greatly on his inner-strength and body, and after only a month or so, the effects began to show. When removed from the Gauntlet, his hand and forearm both had exposed melting flesh, and, just as Destane had said, it was excruciatingly painful. For several weeks, the pain had gone on with the pale teenager ignoring it as best as he could, until one day it had suddenly retreated to a dull throb, weak and barely there.

Mozenrath had been on the borderline of shock when he saw that all that remained of his arm and hand that was covered up by the Gauntlet was now nothing but the skeletal bones that were _supposed_ to have been underneath layers of skin and muscle-tissue. Of course, it had been even more surprising when the young lord had discovered he still had the ability to manipulate the thin white bones at will, despite the fact that, without muscles to move the appendage or nerves to send the command from the brain to the arm itself, it should have been entirely impossible to do so. But then again, he thought, since the puzzle-box incident, had anything been normal for him? And so he simply dismissed it as an effect of his magic, and continued on with his plans for domination of the deserts.

Xerxes often accompanied him in those plans as he thought them up, and the two of them would frequently be down in the alchemic lab, now completely free of mutations, brainstorming ideas. Mozenrath had even thought up a few brand new spells, although he hadn't had anyone actually oppose him recently for him to have the opportunity to try them out. Believe it or not, the eel was actually a good help to his master at this, though his IQ wasn't nearly as high as his, because he had no real concept of what was impossible (he was a flying eel that could float through the air as if he were swimming through water; why would he?) and his ideas, unbridled by logical limitations, were often perfect for Mozenrath, who as of late had abandoned the majority of his views on logic and refused to quit at something that related to magic because it was _'impossible'_. With his familiar's aid, he had come up with things like magic sensors for the abandoned city that bordered his castle and chains with the ability to block any sort of magic!

As of late, Mozenrath had even made it his hobby to collect magic and magical objects alike. This, he knew, was because of what had become a bit of an addiction for him, an addiction to the power-rush he got when he felt the flow of magic through his body just before something or someone was destroyed by it. It was a sadistic addiction, yes, but it was better for him to fuel it with other conduits as opposed to his Gauntlet, because they took a much more minimal toll on him than the leather glove. Though it seemed it wouldn't take away any more of his flesh, it still drained him of energy and physical strength, especially when overused, and there was more than a slight possibility of an early death from abusing it's power. And so to, for the most part safely, fulfill his power-lust, he continued to accumulate all sorts of objects for his use in seizing control of the seven deserts.

His most recent undertaking was one he was looking forward to the completion of, one that would assure his position as the most powerful sorcerer in this world. Mozenrath had come across a particularly interesting tapestry, of which the woven cloth depicted several odd-looking creatures frolicking in a sort of field. In the research he had done, the dark-haired youth had discovered that the creatures were called 'thirdaks', and even better that the tapestry could become a direct portal to their realm when opened with magic. Why was this better, you might ask?

It was better because thirdaks thrived upon the ingestion of magic, and would go after anything magical it spotted. With just one of these creatures under his command, any witch or warlock who opposed him would be easily subdued and defeated, keeping himself without any threat of being overthrown from his position. Of course, before summoning the thing, he had to think up a way to force it to obey him, because, after all, Mozenrath was magical as well, wasn't he? Without a means of domination over it, he would become nothing more than a meal for the thing, and he had come _too_ far from what he had been for that to happen. And so, after a day or so in his lab with Xerxes, he had invented a binding collar, similar to the one he had worn as Destane's slave, that would place the beast firmly under his control.

Although, wouldn't you know it that once summoned, the creature was too wild to be caught be the nineteen-year-old sorcerer, and had managed a nearly critical drain on his magic before he was able to escape, leaving it to run amok in his castle?

As much as Mozenrath hated to admit to himself, he was going to need some outside help on this one, and decided upon the first place he could think of to begin his search for assistance: the faraway kingdom of Agrabah.

Once he had a plan concocted to draw out his future aid, he teleported to the area to begin his test. It didn't take too much effort to create a fake monster, a winged thing that called a pterodactyl to mind with leathery blue skin, and let it loose in the large city's market place.

It wasn't long after that when people took notice, running and screaming as it flew about and screeched menacingly, but doing no more damage than to knock over a cart or two, mainly because it knew it's mission, and it's mission was only to draw out the strongest of the herd.

Mozenrath watched from behind a stone archway, with his loyal eel at his side, as the citizens went fleeing in every direction with pitiful terror. Scoffing as he levitated a pear from a nearby fruit cart over to him, he remarked, "Cowards, Xerxes, all of them." The eel chuckled his agreement as the young lord bit into the fruit.

His creature then landed on a pile of ceramic pots, smashing them as it did so, before turning to face three approaching palace guards. One was grey-skinned and lanky looking, another flabby and a bit too overweight for his profession, as far as Mozenrath was concerned, and what appeared to be their leader, a burly and authoritative one in the lead.

The fat one gaped at the winged beast, exclaiming, "Ooh, it is so ugly!"

"When we are through he will be uglier still!" the leader bellowed, drawing his blade while his subordinates followed his lead.

Mozenrath mentally commanded his creature to swoop down to face them on level territory, vaguely hoping one of these trained guards could meet his requirements so he could just go home already. This city was far too... _wholesome_ for his tastes.

The thin guard attacked first, his sword easily blocked by the beast's wing and the guard himself knocked aside with the backswing of the leathery arm, only to be seized by another arm, the arm of his captain. The pudgy guard was next, his sword caught in the razor-sharp teeth of it's intended target and easily snapped in half by the strong jaw, and the frightened man scurried away unarmed.

"It...it isn't human!" the skinny one mumbled fearfully.

"Noooo, really? What was your first clue, brainiac? I would never have guessed!" the young wizard snarked in his head at the vocal stupidity just uttered by the guard.

The leader then dropped him as he raised his sword high, boasting, "And I am his match!" The man swung his sword at the creature, only for it to be knocked aside in much the same way as the first guard's was.

Mozenrath idly looked the male over, noting he seemed to be the strongest of the three, while Xerxes drooled over the unfinished pear in his master's hand. "This one has the muscle," he observed, pulling his hand, and thus the pear, away from his familiar as the eel snapped at it, causing him to miss and bite only air.

The leader flinched back, falling on his knees as he shook with fear, begging, "Mercy!"

The sorcerer rolled his eyes, tossing away the pear as his eel attempted another grab for it. "Pathetic." He ordered his beast to finish the cowardly man off, and just as it was about to obey, a young man, perhaps only a little younger than Mozenrath himself, swooped in on what appeared to be a flying rug and grabbed the guard off the ground.

"Hmm...and what do we have here?" he wondered.

The guard, brave again now that he was out of the beast's path, growled at the youth, "I was just about to get the drop on the creature, streetrat!"

The 'streetrat', as he was so called, who had dark hair, wore white pants, a purple vest and a red fez that must have been glued to his head to have not fallen off in the aerial acrobatics, stated, "Drop away, Razoul," before releasing the guard to the ground. This Razoul then landed not so gently into a cart of hay, which broke at the heavy impact of the fall. For someone who just saved this man's life, that was kind of a cruel thing to do, Mozenrath thought.

As the youth flew through the air on his carpet, the sorcerer said to himself, "Now, this one shows...flair." Following it's master's mental orders, the beast careened towards the boy, screeching angrily around him.

The carpet-riding boy abruptly stopped his mode of transportation, switching direction as the ptreodactyl-like thing spun around to chase after him. "Faster, Carpet!" he urged.

"Carpet? What a _creative_ name!" the wizard thought, wondering if all his friends were so _aptly_ named.

The magical creature hooked onto the woven rug with it's claws, pulling it out from underneath the streetrat, who plummeted helplessly towards a performer's bed of nails as Mozenrath watched, hearing him mutter, "Oh, no!" It was looking like this one wouldn't even _survive_ this encounter, much less be any help to him afterwards.

Just when he was about to hit the killing spikes, however, a blur of pale blue shot past, saving his life.

"What?" the sorcerer gasped in his head, wondering what could have possibly saved this almost certainly doomed youth. When the figure stopped to place his rescuee on solid ground, Mozenrath noted that the blue creature was similar to a human image, but instead of legs, he had a wispy tail and floated just above the ground. His suspicions as to what it was were confirmed when the human boy, who was apparently _excellent_ at naming things, said, "Genie, thanks!"

"Aw, just doing my part, Al...I think." he muttered flipping through what looked to be a script.

"A genie. Now that's not very sporting," he remarked, to which Xerxes shook his head. "Ha, ha, let's see how the boy handles _my_ magic without the genie's."

With a simple telepathic command, the pterodactyl slammed it's claws into the genie's back, sending him flying into the bed of nails which 'Al' had just avoided. This wouldn't be enough to kill him, no, because genies were made almost entirely up of magic, and it would take far more than that to kill one. "I really ought to start reading these scripts in advance..." the blue creature muttered to himself.

Angry at his magical friend being hurt, Mozenrath supposed, the youth grabbed the pterodactyl's clawed feet and was pulled into the air along with it as it flew off. Climbing up onto the winged creature's back, the boy pushed on it's wings, forcing it into a dive under a clothesline, from which he grabbed a red bit of cloth, draping it over the beast's eyes to blind it before leaping off, and, in a display of acrobatics, landing safely on the rope from which he had first taken the article of clothing.

By the time the creature had shaken off it's blindfold, it was too late for it to avoid the low archway in front of it, and it slammed headfirst into the stone before falling limply to the ground.

Allowing himself a pleased smile, Mozenrath decided, "He's good!" Stroking Xerxes with his gloved fingers, he continued, "Let's see _how_ good..." Xerxes, understanding his master well enough to know what he was doing, flew off to carry out what was expected of him.

The poorly-clad youth abrupty turned at the sound of an crying infant, following the noise to a peasant woman on the top of another archway that stretched over a street as she attempted to soothe the wailing child. The pterodactyl, too, looked up at the noise from where it had regained consciousness on the ground before flying towards the mother and child, most likely to silence the noise permanently.

"No!" the boy grunted, pulling himself up on the rope he clung to, detaching it on one side to swing in Tarzan-fashion in front of the beast as he heroically grabbed the woman by the waist, landing safely on a wooden balcony nearby. Turning around, he saw that the creature had followed, and was flying at him with a gaping, tooth-filled maw, but just before the youth could get his face bitten off, the blue lizard-like thing exploded into a zap of black and blue color.

"Come on, Agrabah!" the genie shouted, now recovered from the nail-bed. "Put your hands, and tassels," he added for the animated carpet that stood near him, "together! He puts the 'he' in 'hero'!" He altered his shape into what could be considered a he-man. "Adventure is his middle name!" He now portrayed the likeness of Indiana Jones. "If he had a last name," the genie amended. "Aladdin!"

"Aladdin, eh? Hmm..." Mozenrath thought from his new location. "Well, let's see where this goes, then."

"Hey, everything's okay." Aladdin assured what he thought was a baby, moving aside the cloth it was wrapped in only to be hissed at by Xerxes as he darted out from the swaddling clothes and flew off in a random direction. "Whoah! What...?"

The woman then glowed before disappearing in the same zap of magic as the beast did, leaving Aladdin to shield his eyes against the brightness. It was then that, despite his amusement at the youth's shock, Mozenrath chose to appear, moving aside the tattered red curtain on the balcony and standing before Aladdin. "Good work," he complimented, "you beat a magical monstrosity."

Obviously uneasy at his sudden appearance, the boy got out, "Uh, yeah..."

Laughingly, Mozenrath added, "I hope my little...creation didn't play too rough."

"You turned that monster loose?!" Aladdin demanded, now angry at this new information.

Xerxes popped out from behind his master, then, declaring proudly, "I helped!"

"Think of it as a test," Mozenrath suggested. "The good news is, you passed!"

"A test?!" Aladdin seemed offended. "People could have been hurt!"

Mozenrath and his familiar shared a contemplative glance, before the sorcerer replied, "And your point would be? Look, the important thing is, we found each other. See, I have a job for you."

"Who are you?" the youth questioned.

"I am Mozenrath," he proclaimed with a bow, "ruler of the distant land of-"

"Ruler? Yeah right! You're barely older than me." Aladdin apparently didn't have _any_ manners whatsoever to interrupt him like that, Mozenrath thought to himself, especially when he had done nothing to deserve this kind of treatment. Nothing that is, if one forgets loosing a generally harmless monster on the city. Really though, the worst it had actually done was shatter a few pots and break a cart or two, nothing to be _rude_ over.

Regardless, the sorcerer countered the insolent remark easily, "Which is more _your_ problem than mine, I think."

Out of thin air, the genie poofed into the area, with a multi-layered sandwich on his head. "Come on, Al, lunch is on me!" Making the sandwich disappear, he quietly asked, "Who's your friend?"

"He's no friend, Genie, he's a creep." Wow, the rudeness didn't stop, Mozenrath thought, as the comment had been said just loud enough for him to hear.

"Well, I had a hunch, but it wouldn't have been polite." Oh, so the genie had manners, but apparently couldn't teach Aladdin a thing or two?

The boy whistled, calling his carpet over with a "Let's go!" before both he and the genie hopped on. "Find someone else to do your dirty work, Mozenrath!" he yelled at the young wizard before flying off in another direction.

Frowning at his blatant refusal, Mozenrath raised his cape a bit before using his magic to teleport himself atop a building as Aladdin was passing it. "You don't get it, Aladdin, I'm talking huge reward!" This was true, as he was particularly well-off as far as finances went, and if this youth was willing to do it, he would gladly pay him a high sum of gold for his aid.

Aladdin stopped the carpet, turning around to get right in the sorcerer's face. "No, _you_ don't get it!"

"You'll risk your life to save others, but not for gold?" he questioned, baffled at the new development. How many truly selfless souls were there in the world who couldn't be at all tempted by money? Not more than a handful, that was for sure.

"That's right!" he shouted, before taking off on his carpet, leaving Mozenrath standing on the roof.

As Xerxes swam through the air to curl around his master's shoulder, the young lord muttered to himself, "This won't be as simple as I thought..." His expression altered as he acknowledged his familiar with a stroke of fingers on the eel's back, smirking with the prospect of this new challenge. "But it will be _much_ more fun..."


	6. Chapter 6

It was the crack of dawn in Agrabah when Mozenrath put his plan into action.

He had secretly followed Aladdin to his rundown and poorly furnished apartment-like residence, and now that his unwilling employee had gotten some rest and the sun was rising, the sorcerer decided a wake-up call was in order. The youth had some odd bedfellows, he thought to himself, noting the magic carpet he had seen earlier asleep with a bright red parrot and a monkey that could have passed as Aladdin's miniature brother, a small primate with a matching fez and vest. The resemblance was dismissed from his mind as he remembered that there was _one_ little thing to take care of first, and that was to obtain his leverage.

On the ledge of a hole in the wall that appeared to be used as a bit of a window, sat a golden lamp, the preferred home of any and all genies, the one owned by Aladdin being no exception. Drawing a bit on the power of his Gauntlet, he levitated the metal object towards him before touching it lightly with one finger, teleporting the object into his still thirdak-ridden home.

Xerxes then took the initiative to begin the awakening, hovering in front of the monkey and, when the primate cracked an eye open to see what was so close to it, hissed menacingly, causing the furry creature to screech loudly and jump in fright. As it backed away from the eel, it tripped over the parrot, who shouted, "What?!" at his sudden awakening. The monkey ignored the talking bird and jumped to Aladdin, shaking him and screeching an inhuman parody of the youth's name.

Smirking devilishly as Aladdin shot up in what was apparently his bed, muttering, "Wha? Huh?" Mozenrath loomed menacingly over him with the mocking words, "Rise and shine! You have a busy day."

"Mozenrath!" the streetrat exclaimed in recognition, holding the small monkey as it jumped onto him, frightened at the sorcerer's presence. "What are you doing here?!"

Smiling amiably, he admitted with a shrug, "I just can't take no for an answer!"

Xerxes then floated over to the parrot, who was brushing himself off after being stepped on, mimicking his master with, "Busy day!"

"Yuck!" the parrot shouted, disgusted at the eel before hitting him aside. "Beat it, worm boy!"

Though displeased his familiar was being smacked around, but not wanting to complicate things any further by frying the insolent bird, Mozenrath ignored it. "Nice hovel, Aladdin, but something seems to be missing," he hinted, "something _blue and magical_!"

"Probably oversleeping, snug as a lug in a mug!" the parrot said, landing on the _empty_ pillow where the lamp had been, after which it became obvious it was missing. "Hey, the lamp's gone!"

"Genie..." Aladdin muttered, worried, before demanding, "What have you done with him?!"

Mozenrath smirked, zapping himself to the middle of the room, away from Aladdin, who was trying to get in his face again, laughingly asking the rhetorical question, "Why tell you, when I can show you?" Fueling a bit of his lifeforce into his Gauntlet, he made a wide, sweeping motion with his hand, the black and blue glow of his own magic and the reddish tint from the Gauntlet itself enveloping all those in the room, himself, Xerxes, Aladdin, the monkey, the parrot, and the living decorative rug, as the magic brought them all to the snake-decorated gates of his citadel.

"A warning would be nice!" the parrot yelled, shaking off the remnants of magic on him. "I could have packed a toothbrush."

"...This bird shouldn't even know what a toothbrush _is,_ much less the word itself." Mozenrath puzzled in the back of his mind. "I could understand the genie having ties to the future, genies are one step shy of all-knowing, past, present, and future, but...hmm, I'll have to keep my eye on this one as well."

The monkey, seeming to be a complete coward at this point, screeched and hid under the rug, who drooped a bit as if unnerved as well.

Acting almost like he had forgotten his guests for a moment, he approached the gates, guarded by two ordinary Mamluks and a certain...special one, he sighed familiarly at the location. "Ahh, no place like home."

Aladdin took the time to look around, wondering aloud, "Where are we?"

"Waait," the parrot began, noticing the ground upon which he stood and scooping up a handful...er, wingful of the dark, grainy substance, "the Land of the Black Sand?"

The bird was smarter than he had thought to have realized it so quickly, especially coming for a land so distant from the sorcerer's own. "My kingdom!" he announced, acknowledging the question as truth.

"Ah, tell me another one! Everyone knows the sorcerer Destane runs this joint!" he flew up to land on Aladdin's shoulder, whispering (as best as a loudmouth like this _could_ whisper, that is), "Destane's a real hard case. Even _Jafar_ steered clear of him!" Jafar, Mozenrath figured, must have cut a powerful figure at one time back in Agrabah, because at the name, Aladdin's countenance became shocked, perhaps even frightened.

"Ahh, Destane," the young lord sighed nostalgically, "he was like a father to me." Smiling cruelly, he finished," _Until_ , I stole his power _and_ his throne."

"Sure, you did," the parrot said, thus far dominating the conversation over the only other human there, as if he were speaking to someone who had just said they owned the Golden Gate Bridge.

Ignoring the mocking tone, he decided to use a bit a proof in his claims this time. "Then," he called the green Mamluk over with a mental command, "I stole his humanity." As the corpse-like thing walked over he mocked with a sugary tone, "Hello, Destane, hello," before opting for a more superior and disgusted one as it dropped to it's knees at his feet, "you shambling half-dead Mamluk!"

From behind the carpet, the monkey managed an, "Eew..." at the zombie-like creature that was once his master while the parrot inspected it thoughtfully, stating, "Turned him into a lowly servant. Nice touch."

Ego purring from the compliment, Mozenrath was only pleased further when the bird shouted in terror, "This kid is twisted!"

Of course, Aladdin had to ruin his internal happy-moment by being confrontational again, commanding the information, "Where's Genie?!"

A chilling howl pierced the air from within the walls of his castle, and while Aladdin and his companions froze, uneasy at the noise, Mozenrath raised a hand to his ear as if to hear it better, despite the fact that he knew exactly what it was. "Ah, there's your answer now; the distinctive cry of the thirdak."

"Thirdak?" the parrot queried before dismissing, "Eh, never heard of it."

Xerxes took his cue perfectly, popping out from behind Mozenrath again to state, "Thirdak dangerous!" effectively scaring the bird off of Aladdin shoulder with his sudden appearance.

The sorcerer smiled, petting the eel lightly as he agreed, "Indeed, the beast devours magic, and all things magical." Apparently the monkey was still petrified of Mozenrath himself, but it seemed that the _magic_ carpet had been instilled with fear at the description of the beast, now knowing it was a potential meal for it, and the two of them were shaking in dread. "With the thirdak in my corner, no other sorcerer could touch me." he explained. "I will be..."

"All powerful!" Xerxes finished confidently.

"It's Jafar Junior!" the bird moaned apprehensively. So, apparently this Jafar had been quite the menacing man then, if he was being compared to Mozenrath by his cruelty. Of course, they hadn't really seen enough of _that_ to make a truly fair judgement, but it didn't really matter at this point.

"If this thing eats magic," Aladdin spoke up, saying something meaningful for the first time all day, "won't it bite the hand that feeds it?"

"Yes," Mozenrath acknowledged simply, not wanting to begin a long, and meaningless rant about the beast which would inevitably be the case if he were to be started on the topic. "Once bitten..."

"Twice shy," his eel hissed at Aladdin, showing off his sharp, jagged rows of teeth as he did so.

"I have devised a collar to control the beast," he stated, displaying a magical image of said object.

Laughing at the dumbfounded look on Aladdin's face at the moment, Xerxes interjected, "Mozenrath smart!"

If one thing were to be said about the sorcerer's familiar, it was that he was truly _fantastic_ for his ego.

"So you need me to put that thing on the thirdak...right?" Aladdin deduced, surprisingly. And just when Mozenrath had thought his only strength was physical!

"Other mortals have tried." Only himself, actually, but the streetrat didn't need to know that, now did he? "All have failed. But you, Aladdin, have no choice."

"Collar the beast," he bluntly ordered. "Oh, and do it before snacktime," he amended as he leisurely walked off, "if you want your to genie to...well, heh, you know... _live_." As if knowing now was the perfect accentuating moment, the thirdak howled again, low and eerie in the dark air of the location.

Aladdin rushed to the gate, pounding on the wood. "Open the doors! Now!"

From his place only a few yards away from the castle, Mozenrath waved his hand, causing the doors to creak open for the youth and his pets...friends...no, pets _was_ the best word for them. They followed him wherever he went and did whatever he said; if that wasn't a pet, Mozenrath didn't know what was.

"Why do people build places like this?!" the parrot exclaimed as the stood in the shadowy doorway of the citadel. "Ever hear of a sunroom?"

The howl returned once more, now echoing though the palace, but the small group forged on anyways, even as the monkey hopped up onto Aladdin again, quivering warily at the sound.

"You guys get that collar," Aladdin instructed to the carpet and parrot, "we'll find Genie." This obviously meant himself and the monkey, being that they were the only two left in the large, empty space now that the other two had flown off to accomplish their task.

 

* * *

 

Where the lamp sat in the middle of an empty room, the howl reverberated over the stone walls, awakening the genie. With a yawn, the blue humanoid entity emerged from the golden lamp, wearing a nightgown and a sleeping cap, muttering, "Guy can't get any rest with all that snoring, Abu." Looking around, he then realized that this was not the hovel he had fallen asleep in, by _any_ stretch of the imagination. "Al...did you remodel?" he questioned, trying to bring a bit of humor into the disconcerting situation.

Hearing the click of hooves on the marble floor, the genie quickly snatched up his place of dwelling. "I must warn you: I have a lamp!"

The beast's howl had dwindled to a mournful wail, and Genie turned to face the noise. "Uh, hi there!" he waved nervously. "You must be new to the neighborhood. Uh, sorry, I, uh, didn't catch your species."

Yes, the thirdak was a fearsome-looking thing, four hooved legs supporting it's brown body, excluding the bright blue coloring of the armadillo-like plating on it's back, several rows of sharp teeth, and the single red eye in the middle of it's forehead confirming that it was no ordinary beast. Its tongue, visible now that the creature was panting, practically drooling at the potential magic feast, was pink, spotted with green polka-dots and hollow like a straw. It growled at the genie in front of it, no longer upset now that it had found something to hunt, before leaping at the magical entity, tongue lashing to and fro as the jaw swung wide open for it's meal.

Backing away from the thing as quickly as he could, Genie muttered, "Well, Toto, something tells me I'm not in Agrabah anymore..." He made a dash for the door, slamming it shut and locking it behind him before he leaned against it hyperventilating. "Aladdin!" The cry for help went unheard as the thirdak began ramming it's way through the door, wood cracking as the genie was pushed away.

In the blink of an eye, he wore a stereotypical carpenter's outfit, complete with tool-belt, overalls, and hard hat. "Today on 'This Old Monster', we're going to build a wall." Within seconds, a brick wall covered the broken door as the genie stood proudly before it. An aggravated cry came from behind the wall and what was left of the door, causing Genie to smirk as he wondered aloud, "Did I mention it's a magical," this was now aimed at the thirdak, _"monster-proof_ wall?!"

A brick then glowed before disappearing completely, sucked up by the thirdak's tongue. Genie chuckled nervously now, noting, "A magic-eater. That's a new wrinkle..."

Brick after brick began to fade away as the hungry beast devoured them, and the blue-skinned genie backed away. Poofing himself into a race car, he imitated a race track announcer, "Geniemen, start your engines!" zooming away just as the thirdak had made a big enough opening to escape. As it watched him drive down the hall, its eye extended on it's head from a stalk, which was apparently retractable, and it roared its frustration at having lost its prey.

Or at least, it seemed so until it inhaled deeply, pulling the magic from the vehicle itself, stopping it in it's tracks before it was ingested completely.

Genie, now knowing to more of an extent what he was up against, ran for his life down the corridor, still in racing helmet and gear. Looking behind him, he sighed relieved, seeing nothing. "Lost him." He stopped dead, however, as he faced forwards again, seeing the thirdak somehow directly in front of him. "Found him."

As it stalked forward, causing Genie to back away with every step, its prey laughed nervously again. "I guess you're probably stuffed by now. I mean, all things in moderation, right?" He yelped as his back hit a wall, poofing himself away, but leaving the racing outfit to slow down the beast, who sucked up the clothing almost immediately.

It didn't take long, then, for the thirdak to catch up to the genie, running desperately through the palace searching for safety from the snarling, roaring creature.

And that snarling and roaring didn't go unheard either, Aladdin stating from nearby, "It's close." As it ran past, chasing the fleeing Genie, the youth pointed, "There!" before running after it, his monkey following behind.

Genie found himself lost in a corridor, unable to tell from which direction the beast that longed to eat him was coming from, only that it was coming. Choosing not to decide, he split himself in two, one him running to the left, the other him running to the right. The thirdak arrived in the same place the genie had stood, looking both ways before deciding to go right.

Both ways apparently went to the same place, because both genies ended up meeting in front of yet another door. Upon hearing their predator give another bone-chilling howl as it approached, one jumped onto the other as they both yelled in terror before reshaping into only one genie again, and diving under the small space between door and marble to hide within the empty room.

The thirdak ran straight past the hiding place, surprisingly, just as Aladdin and his monkey approached the lone door. "Calm down, Abu," he assured, "we'll be okay. We aren't magical." As the door was opened, a terrified Genie was revealed, pressed up against the wall with his heart literally beating against his chest.

"But I am!" he screeched, voice high and thin from fright.

"Genie! You're safe!" Aladdin leapt onto his blue friend enveloping him in a hug. Genie pushed him away, exclaiming, "Safe?! Ha! Oh, it's after me, Al. I'm the blue-plate special!" His head transformed into a food-laden plate to emphasize his valid point, regardless of hysterics.

"Come on, Genie, we're here now, nothing's gonna happen." A roar from behind the open door proved him wrong as the thirdak pounced past Aladdin knocking Genie over as it started to suck it's magical sustenance from the top of the entity's head. "Genie!" Aladdin shouted in concern before grabbing the beast and pulling it as hard as he could to get it off of his friend.

"Something's happeni-aah!" Genie had faded and was see-through before he disappeared completely just as the thirdak returned for it's prey.

"No!" Aladdin exclaimed, leaping at the thing which had just destroyed his companion, only to be kicked aside by a stray hoof. That didn't stop him though, as he jumped right back into the fray, knocking it on it's back before punching it in the eye. He then grabbed it by the tail, spinning it around to pick up momentum before slamming it into the wall with vicious force. The beast, groggy from the hit, lie still on the floor for a moment until Aladdin made another grab for him, when it leapt onto the ceiling, crawling up and out the door to escape the room.

Standing shell-shocked as he watched it go, Aladdin barely noticed that Abu had climbed onto his shoulder 'eek'-ing mournfully. "It..it got Genie..." The monkey's eyes filled with tears as it whined sadly.

From under Abu's fez, however, Genie, smaller than fez itself and entirely white with fear, crawled out, asking, "Is it gone?" before resuming his full size as he saw that it was indeed gone.

"Genie! You're alright!" Aladdin shouted, relieved as he hugged his friend once more.

Breathless and shaking, Genie quivered out, "It got a taste of me, Al."

"Don't worry, that thing's not so tough," Aladdin boasted.

"Oh, yeah, easy for you to say. You're not magic, you're not edible!"

"This'll be over soon," he assured his shaken genie, "I bet Iago and Carpet have found the collar."

"Right!" Genie was silent a moment. "What collar?"

 

* * *

 

If there was anything Mozenrath hated at this moment, it was the waiting. He was impatient by nature, having been mainly raised in times of instant gratification, but he had enough self-control at this point in his life to stoically wait for the task he had demanded to be handled, though that didn't stop his mind from wandering, the usual nagging questions taking over.

'How were things back in his old home'? Probably just fine, things only changed dramatically when someone _important_ died or went missing.

'Had his parents noticed his absence yet'? Despite how ridiculous it sounded, there was a high probability that they hadn't, even though it had been four years since he had even set foot in their house.

'Did anyone miss him'? No, chances are, no one did. He didn't often meet new people when he had been Jack Spicer, and among the ones he was in frequent contact with, he hadn't been very well-liked.

And of course, the all-important 'would he ever get back'? Well, even if he managed to figure out how to traverse the universal fabric of space and time, would he want to go back? He surely would've been almost completely forgotten about by now, and there would be no place for him in that world anymore. Besides that, he could never truly go back to what his acquaintances (pretty much anyone on the Xiaolin or Heylin sides) would expect him to be: Jack Spicer, the weird-looking, annoying weakling who basically failed at life. No, he wasn't that anymore, because he was better now. He was Mozenrath, the ambitious and powerful Lord of the Black Sands, and the more he thought about it, the more he liked it that way.

But there was one last topic he still wondered about. How was Chase? Had he defeated the monks yet, or was he still toying with them? What was—no, this was ridiculous! Why should he even be wondering about someone who probably hadn't so much as given a single thought to him since he disappeared? But no, that wasn't right either. He knew why he was curious about Chase, but he just wanted to remain in denial about the reason as long as humanly possible.

His thoughts were cut off, thankfully so, as they had become rather depressing towards the end there, when Xerxes, who shared none of his master's false sense of patience and had been darting through the air restlessly for at least twenty minutes straight, stated, "Hero fail!"

"Patience, Xerxes. Aladdin will not let his genie become the thirdak's victim." Even without having seen the two hugging twice within minutes inside his castle, Mozenrath could tell they were close to each other, and he was sure that the stubborn Aladdin wouldn't allow for a friend to die when there was something he could do about it.

"Too quiet..." the eel muttered swimming past his master only to be caught by the end of his tail and snatched up by the young lord.

"Not quiet enough, Xerxes." His own impatience fueled the action, wishing that the streetrat would just hurry up and restrain the beast already so they could both get back to their lives, and if all went well, never see each other again.

Sufficiently cowed by the annoyance in his master's voice, Xerxes drooped, agreeing, "Xerxes quiet."

 

* * *

 

"Welcome to the sorcerer Mozenrath's Land of Enchantment," Iago described pleasantly as he flew through the door of the laboratory, "also known as Thirdak Central."

Genie whistled, truly impressed, as he, and the others, followed their parrot into the room. "This Mozenrath guy has done his homework..."

Abu jumped up onto a small desk which housed a stone model of the thirdak and pretended to fight it, perhaps as his way of compensating for his earlier cowardice at the real thing.

Folding slightly at the weight, Carpet was barely able to support the large metal collar he had found, clearly intended for their current problem-beast, before flipping it to the ground and dragging it to Aladdin with the thick rope that was attached.

Turning at the sound of metal scraping across the ground, Aladdin became excited, shouting, "The collar! Way to go, Carpet!"

"And here's the instruction manual!" Genie exclaimed, pointing to a small scroll on a nearby table. Opening it, he read aloud, " 'Just snap the collar around it's neck.' Assuming that _is_ it's neck..."

The instructions had actually been an inside joke for Mozenrath and Xerxes, and, because of the joke, the only reason there even _were_ instructions. They had been talking about how stupid someone would have to be to need instructions for a simply-designed collar like it was, and so resulted the simple instructions: "Just snap the collar around it's neck. Go ahead, it's okay. Just put it on the thirdak. That's all. You can do that. It's not against the law...Are you still reading this?"

Regardless of the instructions, which no one had bothered to read past the first step, Abu jumped up onto a stack of books to better inspect the thirdak tapestry, chattering curiously at it. Flying over to the monkey, Iago explained, "The tapestry tells the tale, boys. In the thirdak's world, magic is everywhere, like water."

Abu raised a digit to the woven cloth, screeching as he was zapped and running back to Aladdin who concluded, "Which means in this world, he's dying of thirst."

Genie, who floated just next to Carpet as the rug try to remove the collar that had fallen on it's tassel, spoke up, once more frightened as the topic of conversation became the thirdak. "I bet a big blue genie and a magic carpet would really hit the spot..."

A growl rumbled through the air, and looking up at a ceiling beam, the group saw the beast hanging on by it's tail as it stared hungrily at the two magical beings in the room. Talk about speak of the devil! It leapt from it's hanging position, and although Genie managed to avoid it in time, the magic carpet was not so lucky, becoming flattened as it collided with the face of the four-legged animal.

"Carpet!" Aladdin yelled, concerned as the rug was able to fly a distance away from the thing hunting it. Unfortunately, it wasn't far enough, it seemed, as the thirdak began to inhale again, unraveling the carpet thread by thread as it clung desperately to a table-leg.

Thinking quickly, Genie extended his arms, reaching under the magic-devouring beast to grab his woven companion, then pulling him back under the thirdak, flipping the thing over as he did so. Aladdin, too, quickly went into action, snatching up the collar and dashing towards the door, genie and half-unraveled carpet in tow. The momentarily incapacitated animal recovered quickly, however, and it was just barely they managed to seal the metallic door before it chased them out, although a thirdak-shaped indent was quite obviously protruding at this point.

Now allowed a moment of calm before the storm, if you will, Abu fainted straight away from the stress. "Will he be okay?" Aladdin questioned Genie, referring to Carpet, who held the living rug, in visibly bad shape, with both hands.

"Steady there, rug-man," Genie encouraged, making knitting needles appear as he took it upon himself to mend the floor ornament, who was, within seconds, dancing around the room joyously, good as new.

"Abu, Iago, you guys distract him while I snap this around his neck," Aladdin instructed his animal friends, to which the parrot posed a different option.

" _Or_ , the monkey distracts, you snap, and I provide moral support."

Ignoring him completely, the streetrat walked over to his magical friends. "Genie, you and Carpet stay here, okay, where it's safe."

"I wanna be where it's safe!" Iago whined fearfully, to which the suddenly brave, and conscious, Abu nodded condescendingly and dragged the bird off to their task.

Opening the door a crack, Aladdin peered out cautiously and Iago, seeing no sign of the beast, quickly decided, "Okay, he's gone, let's leave."

"No," Aladdin assured, "he's here..." before fully sliding the metal door open. The room was dark, and eerily quiet as the three walked into the room, while Genie and Carpet peeked out from behind the door. "Find him yet?" the genie asked nervously. "You'll let me know when you find him, right?"

Abu screeched abruptly as a book thudded to the floor just behind him, leaping onto Aladdin's face in terror.

"Yeeaah, sorry, that was me," Iago confessed sheepishly, perched on a table-ledge. The streetrat pulled the monkey off of his face before placing him next to the parrot on the table, then quietly creeping around the room in search of the thirdak.

"Come oooon, what's taking so long?" the genie whined, trying to get a better view into the inky blackness of the lab. A growl behind him caused the magical entity to look, seeing the hooved animal crouched low, entirely ready to pounce on and devour it's prey. Looking forwards again, as if not acknowledging the thing, Genie was scared silent for a moment before screaming, "Aladdin!"

Hearing his name, the youth turned to the door in time to see the thirdak bound into the room following it's potential lunch-foods in their attempt to escape. Iago dove under a book that lay tepee-style with a scream as Genie snatched up Carpet and flew high up towards the ceiling so as to remain as far out of the way as possible while Aladdin chased the beast through the room, collar in tow. Jumping at it in it's zig-zag path, hoping to slip the collar on, the youth fell hard as it dodged his efforts, the metal of the circular object clanking against the floor. The thirdak, free of the one chasing it, climbed up the wall jumping from beam to beam until it had the genie and carpet backed into a corner.

Frowning resolutely, Aladdin picked himself off the floor, climbing on top of the desk on which Iago still hid under a book. "Abu, cut the rope!"

" 'Abu, cut the rope'? What kind of plan is that?!" It wasn't until further quick inspection on his part did Iago realize that the rope Abu had been near was one that held up a hanging light, and when the monkey's teeth bit through it, it fell, landing on the parrot's end of the table (which he was barely able to dodge in time) while simultaneously sending Aladdin's end up in the air. From this boost, the agile youth was able to land safely on the beams in between the thirdak and his friends. Apparently frightened by the collar, the beast whined and jumped down from the beam it stood on, though it chose to hang by it's tail. "No!" Aladdin yelled at the prospect of the thing getting away, while Genie and Carpet took the chance to escape. Seeing it's prey try to flee, however, caught the thirdak's attention, and with a howl it unhooked it's tail from it's supportand leapt towards them once more, running atop the ceiling beams to corner them against the opposite wall.

"So, you like magic, here's a trick," Genie tried, making a hand of playing cards appear in his grip. "Pick a card!" They were all swallowed up by the famished animal. "Or take 'em all, whatever!"

The thirdak beginning to suck the magic from the genie, he exclaimed, terrified, "He wants dinner _and_ a show!" It was lucky for the magical blue creature, however, that the beam was unable to support the voracious animal's weight, cracking and splintering under the pressure, and when Aladdin jumped onto the thirdak's back, it became too much for the weakened piece of lumber, snapping it in half as they fell to the floor. Aladdin, though, managed to catapult himself into the air, hoping to land safely where Genie and Carpet were, only to slam into the two of them and break the beam they stood upon as well, and all of them crashed to the floor in a heap of broken wood and basically anything they landed on.

Iago and Abu quickly spotted Carpet, trying to pull himself out from under the wreckage, and ran over to him, managing to tug him free. "Well, congratulations," Iago spoke, shaking one of the rug's tassels, "you're not thirdak-chow. Yet."

It wasn't long after that when Genie sat up from under a large piece of lumber, looking questioningly at the only unmoving pile of wood. "Aladdin?"

The pile fell apart, and the thirdak's tail thrashed as it shook off debris, and when completely unburied, a silver collar around it's neck was revealed, Aladdin holding the other end of it. "It's okay Genie. He's under my control, now."

"Wrong!" Mozenrath interjected, pulling the leash away from Aladdin. "The thirdak is under _my_ control." With a wave of his hand, the torches along the walls lit up, bathing the shadowy room in light.

"What now, Al?" Genie asked his leader, preparing for a fight against the young sorcerer.

"It's over. Mozenrath won." Aladdin's tone was dejected in this surrender as his friends looked at him shocked at his words.

"The kid's calling it quits?" Iago asked in disbelief.

Mozenrath glanced towards his familiar as even Xerxes puzzled, "Hero...quits?"

"The hero knows when he's beaten," Mozenrath explained, at this point waiting for the little hooligan to get the hell out of his house. He would have rewarded him for the capture, but not charging him for the collateral damage done to his citadel, especially his laboratory, was something he counted as almost insanely generous.

"Guys, we're finished here." And with that Aladdin sulked out of the room before being followed by his baffled friends as Mozenrath, Xerxes, and the thirdak watched. The eel cackled viciously at the retreating figures while his master simply watched. This _had_ to be too good to be true.

Now outside the castle's gates, Iago exclaimed, "Whoa! I can't believe you've actually figured out how sensible cowardice can be!"

"No way!" Aladdin denied. "That was just to throw off Mozenrath!"

"Figures," the parrot flatly stated. There was really no reason for any kind of retaliation, because Mozenrath wasn't their enemy, and never had been. An eccentric employer who used unconventional means of employment, yes, but not an enemy. Using logic, there was no need or cause to make a nemesis out of this dangerous young man, because though he had mentioned his goal of becoming all-powerful, he had never said a thing about Agrabah, and thus there was nothing that should have made the streetrat decide to interfere. As it was, though, Aladdin's sense of self-righteousness had always made him step in to 'always do the right thing', and so...

"Here's my plan..." the group then huddled up listening intently to their leader's scheme.

 

* * *

 

"Decisions, decisions," Mozenrath sighed wistfully, "who to conquer first?" He was currently leaning casually over a wheel of sorts, split into seven sections to represent each of the seven deserts. Bored, the young lord had decided to create the spinning wheel to make the choice of his next conquest more interesting to decide.

"Quirkistan?" Xerxes suggested to his master, who nodded approvingly to his familiar.

"An enchanted land blessed with an enchanted king. An intriguing target." He spun the wheel to get a better feel of his options at this point. "Perhaps the subterranean world of the Al Mutti..."

"Definite maybe!" the eel smirked, enjoying the sadistic look on his master's face knowing just what it meant for whoever was about to be conquered.

"And you will devour my magical foes!" Mozenrath commanded pointing to the thirdak, chained alongside the desert-wheel, who only whined pitifully, sadly curling up on the floor. The sorcerer then returned to his task, the wheel this time landing somewhere else, as he remained unaware of his eel being caught and muffled by a carpet, a monkey, and a parrot.

"Agrabah!" he noted when the wheel stopped. "Not a particularly magical place...why conquer it?" he wondered aloud before shrugging it off. "Oh, because it's there!" He spun the wheel again, only this time to come face to...shin, actually, with Aladdin, who now stood on the large map.

"Not while I'm _here_!" The youth jumped from his elevated position to land behind Mozenrath, who spun to face the streetrat as he mentally berated himself. Of _course_ it had been too good to be true, this boy clearly wanted to be the idealist hero in a world of evil, and _couldn't_ have just kept his nose out of this.

The young sorcerer found himself shoved on top of the wheel before Aladdin spun it, unnecessarily hard in his opinion, and by the time it slowed to a stop, Mozenrath's head acknowledged that he didn't get motion sickness, but the rest of him wasn't exactly agreeing. Before the room could even stop rotating for him, Aladdin grabbed Mozenrath by the collar, threatening, "Send the thirdak back to it's world, Mozenrath, or I'll let him loose on you _and_ your magic."

Smirking, he countered, "You wouldn't! You're not that ruthless!"

"You're right," Aladdin shrugged, "I'm not. But _he_ is."

Iago sat atop the thirdak, just at the collar as he taunted, "And man, do I feel cranky."

"No..." Mozenrath's eyes went wide as the collar was unhinged, his only thought being of how excruciating the first thirdak mauling had been, nearly entirely drained of magic and as a bonus, a sharp hoof to his already damaged throat. As the beast snarled and charged at him, he scrambled away as quickly as possibly, chanting his mantra of denial as he did his best to put as much of a distance as possible between him and the thirdak. Unfortunately, the beast's rage at the sorcerer fueled it's speed, and it caught up, knocking the dark-haired lord to the floor. Managing to push it off of him, Mozenrath dragged himself to the wall against which the thirdak's tapestry hung, and just as he was trapped between solid stone and vicious animal, he activated the power of his Gauntlet and opened the portal to the beast's homeworld, through which it thankfully jumped through before it was sealed up again.

Panting and absolutely livid at the turn of events, Mozenrath stood, threatening, "Aladdin, I'll-"

"You'll what, son?" The genie had altered his shape again, now three times the size of any human and completely muscle-bound. The sorcerer stopped, thinking over the situation before acting. He could easily take on the genie at another date, but as it was, opening the thirdak's portal had been the last bit of magical energy he limited himself to from his gauntlet for the day, the last bit of safe, not immediately life-threatening, magic, and he decided it just wasn't worth the effort, turning and simply walking away from the situation.

Aladdin's voice stopped him, however, as it mocked, "Think of this as a test, Mozenrath. You failed." He merely scowled at the words, knowing just about any move he made now would be seen as confrontational, something he wanted to avoid until a better time.

Xerxes, utterly shocked at what had just happened, questioned, "Hero... _win_?"

Frowning, he acknowledged, "For now," as he retreated further into his castle, ever-loyal Xerxes following him, even as he heard Aladdin confidently boast, "For good."

Snapping his fingers the sorcerer implemented a spell that would, in all simplicity, shove Aladdin and friends out his castle on their asses, as he went off to plan.

Aladdin had made a _big_ mistake by messing with him, and he would _not_ get away with it, because as they said where Mozenrath was from, _payback is a bitch._


	7. Chapter 7

It was a lovely day in the desert, hot, as usual, but not too hot so as to ruin it completely, and a certain streetrat had decided that this was the perfect type of morning to woo his royal girlfriend.

The Princess Jasmine, heir to the Agrabanian throne, sat next to Aladdin on his magic carpet as they soared pleasantly through the desert skies, enjoying their little outing together. Jasmine, in her pretty pink gown and her dark hair pulled back in the usual way, and Aladdin, in his white and gold future-Sultan garb, made a perfect pair as the two of them swooped down in the middle of a romantic oasis.

"What a perfect day!" Jasmine noted, while her gentlemanly beau helped her to step down from the rug.

"It's all in the company you keep," he retorted, pulling Jasmine by the waist and dipping her sweetly as she lay her hands on his strong shoulders. They both leaned into each other, and just as their lips were about to meet—

A metallic snapping sound viciously cut through the air, drowned out only by the pitiful and pained whimper that accompanied it. The couple quickly turned their heads to the direction from which the noises had come, seeing a small fox with it's foot caught in the sharp teeth of a bear trap, whining as it struggled helplessly against the cold, unfeeling metal.

Self-righteousness getting the better of him again, Aladdin marched over to the confined animal, wondering aloud, "What kind of creep would set a trap like this?" Apparently not even thinking of what possibly hungry or poor trapper might have laid it there to bring in food or money for his family, the youth pried open the metal, freeing the fox, who for some odd reason, wasn't bleeding at all from the sharp metal, although this escaped the notice of both Aladdin and Jasmine.

Speaking of the princess, the moment the furry orange creature was freed, it ran over to Jasmine, leaping into her arms to cuddle and bark at her amiably, causing the young woman to giggle and remark, "He's so cute!"

Proud of his good deed of the morning, and probably also that he had pleased his girlfriend with the act, Aladdin stepped forward haughtily to join Jasmine and the small animal he had rescued. Or at least, he tried to, that is. Looking at the ground when he only felt his foot get pulled back and then deeper into the sand he stood on, he saw not the yellowish grainy substance he had expected, but only tar-like blackness that held him down, and the more he struggled the deeper stuck he got, now at least shin-deep in the sticky black glue.

"Aladdin!" Jasmine exclaimed worried, only to gasp in shock as the fox she held changed shape, reforming into a spooky-looking eel that hissed venomously at her before wriggling out of her clutches. Frightened, she ran towards Aladdin, still stuck in the ooze, until he stopped her. "Jasmine, stay back!"

While the princess looked on worriedly, Carpet flew forwards, hovering just above Aladdin to help pull the youth out. It didn't do much good, though, the streetrat remaining held fast in his entrapment, but that didn't stop the woven decoration from trying it's best. It wasn't until a blue and black stream of magic hit the rug dead on were the attempts at escape abandoned and Jasmine was forced to dive down to avoid the blast.

"Aladdin, you're looking well...though trapped," a familiarly smooth voice rang out in the desert, and, looking up, the youth watched dumbfounded as a tear of magic ripped open the sky. Of course, who should then emerge from said tear to hover leisurely over Aladdin but Mozenrath himself? Well, maybe hover wasn't the right word, it was more like standing, only there wasn't any visible ground, but nonetheless, Mozenrath was there, and by the wicked smirk on his face, it was not good news for Aladdin.

"Mozenrath..." the streetrat acknowledged the sorcerer with a scowl, clearly not happy his little date had been so rudely interrupted. But then, that was how karma worked, wasn't it?

Not deterred in the least by the less-than-friendly greeting, the young lord smiled cattily with the admittance of, "Guilty! Now, let's cut to the bone. You know how I've made a career out of collecting magic?" This wasn't really meant as a question, but as more of a segue into his next topic, because he immediately carried on, "Well, I've decided _your_ genie will now be _my_ genie."

Xerxes darted towards Aladdin, inspecting his waist, where the youth usually carried the genie's lamp, for any sign of the desired object, only to be swatted at by the aggravated streetrat, though no strike ever hit home. "Yeah, right!" he scoffed, "Genie's not here, so you're out of luck!"

The eel swam back to his master, confirming, "No lamp."

"No problem," the sorcerer spoke nonchalantly, entirely unconcerned with this new development, even going so far as to cross one leg over the other to illustrate his complete lack of irritation. "I have _you_ now," he addressed Aladdin, "I'll have _him_ soon enough."

Jasmine, who had sat on the sidelines up until now, had gotten onto the magical rug, signaling, "Now!" The carpet took off into the air, zooming over to the girl's trapped boyfriend while she grabbed his attention with, "Aladdin!" then gripping both of his hands with her own, trying in vain to pull him out.

"Oh ho, a girl of action!" Mozenrath mocked, already disliking the pretty royal girl who would be a heroine, "Where are the tears, little princess?" As she looked up to face him, Mozenrath scowled, noting the resemblance he saw to her late mother, before advising, "Beg me for mercy." Without any of said mercy whatsoever, he shot a magical blast her way, forcing her from the carpet to land hard on the sand with the noise a typical damsel-in-distress might make.

Furious that the sorcerer would go so low as to hurt a _woman_ (What could the young lord say? He was raised in times of equality, and if a female opposed him, she would receive the same treatment as a male who did the same, although he admitted he was being rather sexist to this one, probably because she was the annoying princess-type), Aladdin yelled out, enraged, "Mozenrath!"

In the blink of an eye, the black sand around Aladdin, in the tar-like form Mozenrath had discovered, rose up and took the shape of a hand, clenching tightly around the streetrat as he was caught.

"Aladdin!" Jasmine screeched running over to the ebony fist, only to stop and yelp as the fist became formless, swirling around to splatter the black goo everywhere before taking to form of a small obsidian marble, which flew directly into the young lord's hand before the princess could make a grab at it, the girl only succeeding in landing face down on the desert sand.

"You know, princess," he began, seeing the female glare up at him with her hair partially in her face, "pitiful is very cute on you." This wasn't true, of course, seeing as in all honesty, Mozenrath hardly swung that way, and when he did, it had to be a particularly special girl to catch his attention. Princess Jasmine just didn't meet the requirements. But either way, the statement effectively served it's purpose when the girl scowled viciously at him, clearly trying to convey that she was offended by the very thought of such a thing. Having gotten his sadistic kick for the hour, Mozenrath carried on without acknowledging the female's heated glare in the least, "If you want to see your beloved Aladdin again, have the genie delivered to me at Dagger Rock _by nightfall_." With no real need other than the slightest of urges, the young sorcerer zapped the girl once again, sending her flying back a good few feet.

Toying with the dark marble in his hand, manipulating his fingers to allow the small sphere to do a complete revolution around the digits to land it right back in his palm before clenching his fist around it, he warned, "Now, I know this won't be easy, but don't try anything royal, like _sending an army!_ Defy me, and..."

"Aladdin pays!" Xerxes hissed in the princess's face before returning faithfully to his master.

"With pain," Mozenrath added, smirking at the deer-in-the-headlights look the young woman was currently sporting.

"Yes!" the eel agreed, making a fist, or what looked like one, with his fin in his excitement before snickering maliciously, to which his dark-haired master gladly joined in as they both disappeared in a zap of magic.

Jasmine's shock quickly became anger, and she scowled at the spot where the two had vanished. Leaping onto Carpet, she ordered the rug to return her tow the palace, to which it swiftly complied.

 

* * *

 

"Wants me?" Genie asked, baffled at the words Princess Jasmine was speaking.

"Mozenrath wants you at Dagger Rock by sunset, or else Aladdin—"

"Al's got nothin' to fear, Jas!" the genie boldly interrupted the troubled-looking princess. "That warped wizard wants to take me on, let him try!" He morphed into several different warrior-esqe forms, first a Roman soldier, then a barbaric Hun-type, before what looked like a hockey-playing duck, adding in the words, "He shoots, he scores!"

"Genie, it's an obvious trap!" Jasmine insisted, "Mozenrath wants your magic! _I_ will rescue Aladdin." Where had the cowardly damsel in distress gone off to, and what kind of alter-ego was this brave warrior woman in her place?

"No, you will not!" the voice of an older man rang out, and what appeared to be the current Sultan marched in, a short, round man with a large white beard and mustache. "It's much too dangerous!" he was clearly concerned about his only daughter gallivanting off to battle some maniacal wizard type, especially when that was the same way he had lost the love of his life, Jasmine's mother.

"But father—" the princess tried to protest, only to be cut off by the Sultan.

"Don't worry, Jasmine," he assured as he climbed onto his throne, "I'll send my finest men to rescue the boy."

"Father, that's just what Mozenrath expects!" Not really, as he had threatened Aladdin's life to get the point across that he did _not_ want soldiers involved. _Period_.

"Dearest, Aladdin's best hope is for you to leave this matter to my guards."

"Father," the princess pleaded, "listen—"

"Jasmine," he interrupted, "I—I may be, I may be a little out of practice at this," the man stuttered out, "but _go to your room_!"

 

* * *

 

The princess sat moodily in her room at her vanity, gazing into the large, expensive mirror in frustration while Iago and Abu sat behind her on the ridge of her lounging chair. Well, Abu sat, Iago was lounging, but the point remained that they were both there.

"I cannot just sit here!" Jasmine concluded, slamming her fists down on the poor abused vanity before standing and marching off into her room, now dressed in a short blue top, the straps of which draped around her upper-arms, and a matching pair of pants that hung loosely from her small, feminine waist.

"Lie down, then," Iago suggested carelessly, but when the girl spun around glaring at him, he quickly changed his tone. "Eh, I mean, I find that a good nap clears the mind in a crisis."

"Carpet!" The rug flew over immediately at it's name called by the princess, hovering next to her and ready to be of whatever use it could. "You have to take me to Dagger Rock, and we are going now."

"Careful, the walls have ears!" This was apparently literal, when a blue, pointed ear sprung out from a nearby wall, then followed by the rest of the genie. "Jasmine," he chided, "if your father sees you..."

"Well, we can't let Mozenrath see _you_ ," she countered to the warning.

"Oh, so only the guards go?" Genie was clearly disappointed at this revelation, and his demeanor spoke it loud and clear.

"To their doom," Jasmine confirmed. "No guard's a match for Mozenrath." More often than not, no _anyone_ was a match for Mozenrath, but that was getting technical. That statement encompassed guards as well as others, although, there was really no need for such technicalities at the moment. Either way, the princess then became thoughtful before saying in the manner of the child who had just figured out how to get to the cookie jar on the highest shelf, "Genie..."

Picking up on the hint, Genie transformed himself into a more human form, with normally colored skin instead of blue and wearing a guard uniform. "Unless we're the guards!"

"I am sleeping!" Iago insisted, "I do not hear this crazy talk!"

Abu, however was excited at the prospect of saving his friend, screeching his agreement to the idea eagerly.

"Sorry, Abu," Jasmine interrupted the monkey, "but you and Iago had better stay here."

The furry animal yelped his outrage at this, demanding an explanation for his being left out of the rescue. Genie took the initiative to elaborate, adopting a trenchcoat, hat, and sunglasses to illustrate his point. "This is a _secret_ mission. Feathered and furry operatives could blow our cover." The monkey was still upset, but he understood now, at least.

The parrot, however, did not share in his friend's pout, posing, "Soooo, you're _not_ gonna drag us along?" while flying over to Jasmine's side, to which the princess ignored him completely.

"Come on, Genie," she said, gesturing the magical entity to follow, which he did with no protest, and the two of them left the room.

"I feel so left out!" Iago shouted sarcastically, before sliding down on the lounge chair, which Abu still remained on the ridge of, to land on soft, feather pillows, laying back comfortably. "I could get used to this..."

 

* * *

 

"Onward, beast!" Razoul commanded the camel he rode out of the city, his trusted men behind him.

"Do bring Aladdin home safely!" the Sultan encouraged from his overseeing balcony, watching the guards go.

"Without fail, your Highness!" the captain of the guard assured his ruler, before facing forward again, muttering disdainfully, "Risking our lives for a lousy streetrat..."

Behind his back, a crackling zap was heard as the last two of the four total guards were pulled from their horses before being replaced by two completely different figures. Turning at the noise, Razoul demanded, "What's going on here?!" noting that instead of his second finest man (the grey-skinned one from way back before the thirdak-incident) and his third choice guard for the mission, there was now a large-framed man with a small black beard and a scrawny one with a light brown bushy mustache-beard combo.

"Personnel reassignment," Genie in disguise explained, handing Razoul a forged official scroll, "paperwork just went through, sir."

Grabbing the scroll roughly and quickly skimming through it, the captain growled, "Stinking bureaucracy!"

And without any further questioning, the group, Razoul, the fat guard (sadly, his finest man), and now Genie and Jasmine carried on in their miniature caravan through the outskirts of the Agrabanian desert.

After an hour or so, Jasmine whispered uncertainly to Genie, the two of them lagging behind, "I think we're going the wrong way."

"Well, say something!" the magical creature posed, to which the girl with fake facial hair cajoled her camel a little faster to catch up with the two actual guards. "Uh, not to say that this isn't a lovely route, Razoul," she began quite femininely in what was, at best, a meek suggestion, "but, uh, I was wondering, maybe...maybe—"

Her pitiful attempt at getting the guard's attention was interrupted when her accomplice pulled her back towards him, and actually off of her camel. The two of them now stood behind a rock, while Genie explained, "If you want Razoul to listen, you have to talk like a _man_!" He emphasized this by flexing his muscles and striking a manly pose, to which Jasmine was only confused.

"Man? And how is that?" she questioned, pulling off her beard.

"I-eh-you know," genie stuttered squeakily in his uncertainty tapping his fingers together as he thought for a moment, before becoming confident again. "Since you're new at this, I'll give you," dramatic smoke clouded the air as Genie took on the voice quality of a movie announcer, " _The Brief History of Man_!"

A miniature screen appeared in front of the princess, and she watched at a small, amoeba-like thing floated into her field of view, clearly Genie who had taken that particular shape. "This is the single-cell, Proto-Man. This little fella had only one muscle." The Genie-amoeba flexed an arm, squeaking pathetically when there was barely any indication of strength. "And so, in an effort to look tough, man evolved," Genie was now a crustacean-like thing with fins to either side as his voice as the announcer continued, "but hard shells were nearly impossible to tattoo, so man swam on." He was now a fish with ink on it's chest, forming a blonde mermaid clinging to an anchor, and the fish admired his own physique before swimming off into the ocean. The scene faded, Genie altering into a limbed, upright newt before continuing his narration. "Man needed arms and legs, so he could operate a really hot set of wheels," a macho-man car appeared next to the genie-newt, and he hopped in the driver's seat, "preferably a liquid-cooled, fuel-injected, turbo charged, straight-8."

"And the best part," Genie-newt added, honking the horn twice, "It's leased!" before driving off and filling the screen up with the kicked up dust from the squealing tires. Genie transformed into a gorilla walking across the screen, "This process will continue," a football player, "until he reaches," a plumber, "his ultimate macho form," a stereotypical cowboy, "in the 1970s." and the illustration finished with an Elvis-type disco-ing on a dance floor before the screen disappeared completely in a puff of smoke.

"Thanks, Genie," Jasmine said, grateful for the advice, pulling her disguise back on as her magical friend poofed them back onto their camels behind Razoul and the other guard. "Yo, Razoul, ya got somthin' against the shortcut through the shifting sands?"

"Listen here, you plebeian little—" the captain's rant was cut off by the other guard's hand on his arm as the heavy-set man admitted, "He's right. It would be much faster."

"Uh, the shortcut through the shifting sands was to be my next order," the man covered quickly, "if _someone_ hadn't interrupted me!" Inspecting the disguised princess, he questioned suspiciously, "What did you say your name was?"

"Javal," she lied easily, saluting her 'captain'.

"And what is your name?" the other guard asked the genie off to the side.

"Uh, oh, uh, me?" he queried nervously, "Ge-uh, Ned." That had been close! He had almost called himself Genie for a second there, but for now, all was well.

This was not the case for Aladdin at the moment, who had suffered some painful moments of magical torture before being once again encased, thankfully, in the marble of black sand. Who knew Mozenrath could make electrical blasts could hurt so much more than they should have? And electrical blasts hurt all by themselves! To think that kind of non-lethal, yet excruciating pain could have been avoided if Aladdin had just kept his nose out of his now-enemy's business was almost regrettable... _almost_.

As far as Mozenrath was concerned, he deserved it anyways, for being so damn bothersome, but then, was there really anyone who didn't deserve horrendous pain and suffering in his eyes anymore? Well, yes, only two, but they existed nonetheless, one being his loyal familiar, Xerxes, of course, and the other being...well, that was of no real consequence at the moment, now was it? He had arrived at Dagger Rock (a dark-looking valley filled with sharp, jagged rocks, one large one in particular being what the area was named for, this sharp stone now hiding one of the sorcerer's more dangerous secrets as a fail-safe) only seconds before, a few hours after his _shocking_ torture session with the prisoner (Mozenrath had almost laughed himself into a coma after seeing how Aladdin had violently reacted to the electric currents, screaming and thrashing, oh, you should have been there!) and had decided he had best set up to wait for the genie that was supposedly being delivered at that very moment.

Procuring the spherical, black object into his hand, the young lord gave it a quick glance, more of a simple acknowledgment than anything else, before tossing it up at the curving, pointed rock and watching as it splattered open when it hit the stone. Aladdin appeared from the black goop, restrained at the arms, legs, and waist by the substance as he hung in midair. Looking particularly disheveled, the streetrat struggled frantically for a moment before giving up the effort when Xerxes flew up to laugh in his face at his attempts for escape.

"Soon your genie will be mine," Mozenrath stated confidently, arms crossed as he smirked up at his captive.

"You'll never get Genie!" the youth insisted angrily, struggling a bit more in his bonds, strictly out of habit, as he knew he wouldn't be able to get free on his own.

And who's going to stop me, Aladdin, you?" the young sorcerer questioned, "You who refused to be a Sultan so you could play 'the hero'?"

"Beats some of your hobbies!" Aladdin countered.

Mozenrath was offended that this stupid little whelp had the gall to even _think_ of questioning him. " _I_ single-handedly conquered the Land of the Black Sand! _I_ became the most powerful sorcerer of our age!" What had Aladdin done recently? Save a fox from a trap? Impress his pampered girlfriend with his _sensitivity_ , or whatever bullshit that was? Beat overtaking an entire kingdom and leading armies of the undead in victorious conquests while barely of legal age, streetrat! "And that's only the beginning! I will rule the seven deserts!" At the declaration, Xerxes nodded eagerly, wanting nothing more than to be at his master's side while the insignificant peasants of the world groveled at his feet.

"Sure," Aladdin acknowledged, "but how many parties do you get invited to?"

Ire rising irresponsibly, Mozenrath scowled irritated at his familiar when the eel laughed at the joke and grabbed him harshly (which he knew he'd regret doing later, but he was in a bad mood, and for him 'bad mood' was almost a synonym to 'apocalypse now') growling out, "Some of us _have_ free time to torment the prisoner," his partial calm shattered as he went on to say, "but some of us should be on the lookout for my new genie!" Once released (more like thrown into the air), Xerxes immediately flew off to do his master's bidding, leaving said master alone with Aladdin.

"You lost this battle the minute you got Jasmine mad," Aladdin spoke smugly, confident in his little girlfriend's abilities.

"Oh, no!" Sarcasm was as evident in Mozenrath's tone as might a gigantic chunk of obsidian might be obvious atop a large pile of diamonds. "I've angered the princess!"

"You don't get it," Aladdin insisted, "I've seen her mad."

"Oh, should I tremble at the painted toes of her dainty little feet?" he asked in mock fear. "I don't think so! Your _precious princess_ is no doubt weeping in some cloistered corner of the palace."

 

* * *

 

Zipping through the air, Xerxes patrolled the area around Dagger Rock, and several miles away, he dove into the sand, watching as a group of guards approached.

"Yes, sir, nothing like a dangerous mission," Genie/Ned boasted, "to make a man feel manly!" He elbowed Jasmine/Javal to persuade her to agree, but only succeeding in pushing her over. "Oh," he said, helping her back up, "sorry, man."

Jasmine nodded to Genie, accepting the apology, and turned her eyes back to the front, freezing when she saw movement in the sands, "Halt!" she demanded the rest of the traveling party. "Something is out there!"

The group stopped, Razoul marched up to Jasmine haughtily with the words, "How dare you give the 'halt' command?! It is _my_ command, one of many I bellow."

Jasmine ignored the man, riding her camel forwards to where she had seen movement, drawing her sword and stabbing the spot mercilessly.

Xerxes darted from the sand with a screech as he felt the blade pierce his back, even as the soldier who had stabbed him called out, "Capture it!" Not losing sight of the mission, he quickly swam to and fro between all the camels, checking both guards and cargo for any sign of the lamp, pain from his shallow wound eased slightly by the joy he found in the guards, panicking and unabashedly frightened, as he slithered around them.

Thinking quickly, Jasmine snatched the hat off of Razoul, using it as a makeshift net to scoop up Xerxes, who continued to struggle vigorously within the darkness of the cloth.

"Well done, Javal," the captain commended, taking his hat back, "I'll take over the capture from here." The minute the man grabbed it, the eel's sharp teeth had succeeded in tearing a hole through the thin fabric, and, with a hard snap at his would-be captor's hand, he flew off to inform his master of the new goings-on.

 

* * *

 

Abu sighed forlornly at the window, disapproving of being in the dark about whether Aladdin was even alive or not and still being able to do nothing about it.

"Relax, monkey!" Iago said from a pillow near the window ledge Abu was sitting on, trying to keep the small primate from ruining his calm mood. "They do the adventure thing, and we do the hang out thing." The bird was silent a moment, before joining his monkey-friend at the window. "How long is it gonna take them, anyway?"

 

* * *

 

Pacing back and forth, Mozenrath impatiently awaited the return of his familiar. Literally unable to stand anymore of Aladdin for a while, he had left the streetrat alone, opting instead to go to a more secluded area of Dagger Rock, knowing Xerxes would find him anyways. He was a little worried, though; the eel had been gone longer than he should have, and despite everything, he really did care for his familiar. Needless to say, he was relieved when Xerxes then chose to float up to him, panting harshly from how fast he had flown to get back ASAP.

"Give me a full report!" he demanded, as might a parent who's child has been out past midnight.

"Four guards..." he breathlessly answered. This hadn't been exactly what Mozenrath was asking, but this was important, as well, and so Xerxes's lateness was let go...for the moment.

"So did they have the genie?"

"No genie," he shook his head in the negative.

"Did you see the lamp?" the young lord pressed further.

"No lamp," Xerxes confirmed his master's suspicions with the words, and the dark-haired sorcerer was quiet for a moment.

"So is there any reason why we shouldn't obliterate Aladdin's little rescue party?"

Xerxes smiled darkly, before chuckling out, "No reason..."

With a snap of the fingers, a magical command was sent out to his Mamluks to solve the little problem, and having that taken care of, Mozenrath casually asked, "So, Xerxes, why were you gone so long, I wonder?"

The eel became skittish, trying to avoid the question as best as possible. "Uh, there were...um..." Xerxes whined helplessly, knowing there was no way out of it; he had never been very good with excuses. He turned a little, showing the bleeding cut on his back just along the side of his purple frill.

Mozenrath gasped, snatching up the eel quickly with one hand, making sure not to hurt him further. "Who cut you, Xerxes?"

"Guard..." he explained, embarrassed to have been caught so easily, wriggling mortified in his master's hand.

The sorcerer scowled, lightly gliding a gloved finger over the cut as he channeled some of his lifeforce into the Gauntlet to close the wound. "You are not to blame, Xerxes, all responsibility in this falls to the one at the _hilt_ of the sword, not the blade. And even then, that guard will get what's coming to him, although I do wish you had told me about this sooner so I could have chosen a more painful method of death for them."

Xerxes smiled, grateful to have a master who took care of him. Most familiars were treated no better than the lowest of slaves, but Xerxes got the friend treatment; a friend who sometimes agitated Mozenrath and paid the price for doing it, yes, but still a friend. After all, Khoury, while Destane was still in power, was in his cage for about 22 hours of the day, at best! Xerxes? Free range, so long as he stayed mostly out of trouble; the eel had it good, and he knew it. Once he felt the painful cut disappear completely, he shot out of his master's hand to curl affectionately around the black-clothed shoulders.

Chuckling softly, Mozenrath stroked the eel gently, with the words, "Alright, alright, you're welcome. Now come on, we have 'torturing the prisoner' to do."

Nodding eagerly, the eel followed his master as the two fo them walked off to bother Aladdin some more.

 

* * *

 

"What is it, man?" Jasmine demanded the large guard who was staring curiously at her.

He was quiet for a moment before hesitantly asking, "Didn't you have a beard?"

The princess in disguise gasped, feeling at her chin only to discover that the beard was gone, leaving only the mustache protecting her identity. "No!" she answered sternly to the guard.

"But...I remember—"

"Enough, man!" she insisted. "We have arrived; The Land of the Black Sands." The land they had reached was _barely_ part of the Black Sands, the very outskirts, as was shown by the tendrils of dark sand among the normally-colored grains. This gave the obsidian desert the impression of a living entity, reaching out to grow further and further into new, defenseless territory, and the thought alone was a bit intimidating.

Genie's camel reared back with a grunt as the magical creature attempted to soothe it, "Whoa, whoa, easy Humpty! Look alive, men," he warned, "something's spooking the camels."

Mamluks began dragging themselves from the desert, and as they pushed aside the sand that held them under, Jasmine noting, "Undead guardians..."

"Pretty much undead anything would do it. Aah!" Genie shouted as a Mamluk raised a sword to him, both it and it's companions now entirely free from the ground.

"Mamluks," the heavy guard muttered, apparently good for something other than physical fighting, "the shambling half-dead..."

The group was steadily being surrounded, and, taking action, Razoul leapt from his camel and drew his sword with a fierce battle-cry. He charged at the zombified creatures. The other guard gulped, nervous, before raising his own sword and mimicking his leader's shout, a shout which was soon cut off when a bony, Mamluk-hand gripped him around the throat and tugged him off of his animal of transportation. It inspected him curiously, as if it had never seen a human before, and then decided he wasn't that interesting and chucked him off into a sand dune. The unlucky guard, of course, landed headfirst, buried from the waist up with his sword suffering the same fate several feet away.

Razoul was doing well, bravely fending off Mamluks with each swing of his blade, leaving no question why _he_ was appointed captain of the guards over the otherwise inferior men. Genie and Jasmine watched from under their camels while they formulated a plan. "I'll get the Mamluks," Genie decided, to which the princess countered, "And I'll keep Razoul busy."

"Razoul, behind you!" Oh, what a creative distraction Jasmine employed, Carpet, who had snuck along as cargo on the princess's camel, then taking the initiative to push the captain's hat down over his eyes. While the man went about his attempt to tug it off, Genie went into action, grabbing and taking down the Mamluk that had been about to go after the temporarily blinded guard, who shouted, "What's going on here?!"

When the man almost had himself free, Jasmine stopped him, warning, "Don't look! The burning glow from a Mamluks eyes can blind an entire army!" which sufficiently stopped him from wanting to see, as you can imagine.

Now back in his true form, Genie threw the undead he happened to be holding like a bowling ball, knocking over three of his bony, corpse-like friends who played the part of pins. "Yes!" Genie whispered, as they all ended up flat on the ground.

Jasmine, out of the corner of her eye saw that the subordinate guard had just pulled his head from the sand, and was currently wiping the grains away from his eyes. Gasping, she pleaded as quietly as she could (so as not to alert Razoul, obviously), "Carpet!"

Taking his cue, the rug zoomed straight over to the man, wrapping himself tightly around his face, to which a muffled, "Aah!" was uttered.

Using his magic to play up on the drama, Genie then changed the immediate landscape to a wrestling ring, the remaining Mamluks and himself inside of it. Converting part of himself into an announcer, Genie walked to the center and grabbed the microphone, declaring, "In this corner, the rumbling, shumbling Mamluks!" The poor undead were very confused now, grunting through their stitched mouths in complete bafflement.

"And in this corner, hailing from parts unknown, weighing in at 472 pounds...8 ounces, the Genie of the Lamp!" The main part of Genie stood at the other end of the ring in a black, red, and gold wrestling ensemble, looking ready for a fight. "Rub this lamp," he warned, gesturing to the lamp-shape on his chest, "and you're wishin' for lights out, man!" Launching himself at the Mamluks using the ropes of the ring, he went at them viciously.

"Ow! Oh, our big blue boy, is that brutal! Oh, I wish you could see this," the announcer-Genie spoke to an imaginary audience, "but broadcast standards forbid we show any kind of mayhem! Oh, that's gotta hurt! Nobody home!"

Standing over the disassembled Mamluks, some of which were still trying to crawl away, Genie ripped off part of his shirt, boasting, "I am the Genie of Pain! I will rub you out!" while stamping the floor hard, causing the pieces of his defeated foes to bounce with each step.

"Ned..." Jasmine tried, in vain, repeating more forcefully, "Ned! _Genie_!" The last bit was partially whispered, but heard regardless, and Genie turned, seeing that the battle was most definitely over. Dropping the Mamluk-arm he held in his teeth, he muttered a sheepish, "Oopsie..." before ridding the area of the wrestling ring and theatrics.

Razoul, having heard the fight but not seen it, assumed, "He must have stared into the Mamluk's eyes!"

"All has gone dark!" exclaimed the other guard, still walking around with Carpet over his eyes, certainly not discrediting the rumor of 'blinding Mamluks', something that, had Mozenrath been there, would have had the young sorcerer laughing almost as hard as Aladdin's screams. Either way, the rug removed itself, knowing the battle was over, and took it's place back on Jasmine's camel while the guard fell face down into the sand again.

"It's okay," Jasmine informed Razoul, "you can look now."

Cautiously peeking out from under his large hands, the captain of the guards, and the only actual guard there as well, stared in shock at 'Ned' who stood triumphantly among the dismembered limbs of their undead foes. "Well, I, uh, majored in Mamluk battling at...school," he explained as best as he could, which, when considering he was a Genie who had been alive since probably the beginning of time itself, was not very well. Razoul and his guard seemed to buy it anyways. "Let's go!" Genie hopped on his camel and urged it to go, eager to avoid any questions that might be coming about how he beat all those Mamluks on his own, questions that, if anyone is curious, never came.

Once the group resumed it's travel, Razoul casually glanced back to acknowledge his men, absentmindedly noticing Javal's once mustached face completely hairless, and quite familiar...This of course, didn't register in his mind right away, and by the time he did a double-take, the mustache was back again. In truth, the false hair had fallen off, but Jasmine noted it quickly, prodding Carpet to help her by posing it's tassels just under her nose until she was able to reattach the real fake one, at which point when Razoul looked back again suspiciously, he merely saw Javal whistling casually. Chalking it up to the desert heat, he shook his head, ordering, "Onward, men!"

Xerxes, who had just come to inspect the goings-on, saw the guards riding towards Dagger Rock and zipped right over to the battlefield, then shocked to see the Mamluks, still in pieces, falling all over themselves in an attempt to get their various torn-off limbs and pieces back to their bodies. Gasping, the eel flew off as fast as he could to his master, not at all looking forward to being the bearer of bad news.

 

* * *

 

 

Abu whined, truly upset as he finally dragged himself away from the window to flop lifelessly onto a throw pillow near Iago. "You know..." the parrot began, "we could still catch up with the others."

Abu jumped up excitedly, chattering happily at his friend's suggestion. "Whoa!" Iago exclaimed, coming back to himself, "What am I saying?!" Flying over to a bowl of water, he dunked his head in it, speaking to himself, "Oh, get a grip here! I gotta think...cowardly thoughts." He began splashing his face with more water. "Adventure hurts, adventure very bad. Adventure, you could hurt yourself..."

Abu merely screeched, offended or hurt, one of the two; it was hard to interpret monkey noises.

 

* * *

 

"So what was the damage?" Mozenrath questioned his familiar who had just arrived. "Gruesome, I hope?"

"Real ugly..." Xerxes _really_ didn't want to be the one to say this, and so was holding off as long as possible on giving the straight truth.

"So, we crushed the streetrat's saviors," the sorcerer smirked at said captive, who was looking a little more than nervous, now.

"We...lost."

"What? My Mamluks? Defeated by mere mortals?" Mozenrath was actually at the point where he wasn't angry, thankfully for Xerxes, but more focused on the question of _how it freaking happened_?! Mamluks had double the strength and size of an average human, and add in the natural 'fear of zombies' the majority of the population possessed, not to mention the 'reattachable limbs' thing, and defeating one or two of them, much less the horde he had sent, was _impossible_!

"Pretty pathetic, Mozenrath." Aladdin taunted. Oh, yes, the streetrat _definitely_ rubbed him the wrong way, and he was _really_ pushing the envelope right now, but again, when speaking of Mozenrath, the term was more accurately 'poking Cerberus in the eye'. The Gauntlet glowed as it's power was drawn on, pulling Aladdin towards him, still in his restraints, as the sorcerer spoke, "I should have known the Sultan would send his bravest warriors to rescue his _court jester_." Allowing the hold on the youth to disappear, Mozenrath watched as Aladdin shot backwards, slamming hard into the rock before drooping from the most likely concussion-causing force. "Well, I like a good laugh, too; I'm laughing already." Mozenrath did begin laughing sadistically as two pebbles he had drawn into his hand from the ground were enveloped in magic and shot from his hand, the wizard having decided to use the 'more painful method of death' he had mentioned to Xerxes earlier.

This would give those guards a run for their money...or a run for their lives, whichever came first.

 

* * *

 

The traveling party screeched to a halt as two boulders slammed to the ground in front of them, drawing other rocks to them until their shapes had become that of gigantic hands. Their only interest seemed to lie with the guards, reaching for the group, who, of course, ran in terror. Jasmine and Carpet were the first caught and torn away from their camel, Jasmine's hat and mustache falling off when she was captured as she screamed, "Genie!"

Quickly disposing of his disguise, the blue creature flew out of the way of the remaining hand chasing him, the guards being snatched up instead as he flew to the princess and carpet's rescue. Before Genie could even start to get her free, Jasmine's struggling managed to eject her from the hand, which was unfortunate, as she was unable to fly. "Jasmine!" the genie shouted in worry, only to give a sigh of relief as Carpet, who had freed itself as well, swooped down and caught her before she hit the rocky ground.

Flying past the hand that held the guards, the girl heard Razoul's voice, dumbfounded, exclaiming, "Princess Jasmine?!"

The hand said princess had just escaped from obviously didn't take to being empty very well and quickly began pursuit of the escapee, reaching for the carpet she rode on only to miss by a hair's breadth. Scared, Jasmine began evasive maneuvers, riding low to the ground from the height she had been at, only to find herself dodging the fist's slams on the ground in an attempt to squish her into what would probably be a very bloody, mushy paste.

Meanwhile, Genie had taken up trying to free the guards, figuring Jasmine could handle herself just fine, and he was now tugging on the index finger of the right hand, saying, "Ooh! Let go! These are devoted civil servants, Agrabah's finest!" His grip slipped then, and he went flying off in a spiral before he was able to stop himself, but of course being a bit dizzy from the experience. Determined now, he glared angrily at the hand, poofing into a...housewife?

"Oh, look at these nails! You need a trim, doll." Pulling out a jackhammer, Genie, still in the housewife outfit, began hammering away at the stone from just about every angle until it finally let go, dropping the guards face-first onto the sand below. "Thank me later, boys!" Genie spoke before realizing the new situation. Of course, the hand had been displeased with having to release its captives, and had immediately gone after them again, the trained, hardened guards obviously moving to...well, actually, they ran like cowards. In the middle of the chase, the hand flicked a finger at the men, sending them flying into another conveniently placed sand dune, which they started coughing up only moments later.

Genie gave a sheepish look at having forgotten to keep the hand busy, but that wasn't the only thing he had forgotten: he forgot to keep track of the hand in the first place. Taking advantage of this, it snuck up behind the genie, its opposite coming in front of him as they joined forces to smash the magical creature. They never did, though, as Jasmine warned in time, "Genie, look out!" and he flew out of the way, allowing the hands crash into each other and shatter themselves to pieces.

"Come on, Genie, it's almost sunset," Jasmine reminded, and the two of them, three if you count Carpet, flew off to save the damsel...er, streetrat in distress.

 

* * *

 

Mozenrath glared at the setting sun, annoyed by the lack of 'plan come to fruition' by now. "My orders to the princess were simple. The lamp was to be mine by nightfall!"

"Princess Jasmine doesn't take orders from anyone!"

Why did Aladdin feel the need to keep talking back? The last time he checked, the young lord had merely been ranting aloud; if he wanted his captive's opinion, he would have addressed the streetrat. "That being the case," he countered, "I'm thinking I should keep my end of the bargain. It's been nice knowing you Aladdin. Then again," his Gauntlet glowed brightly, signifying that the next move was to be a powerful attack, "no, it hasn't."

Snatching up the streetrat's shirt, he pulled him closer, smirking devilishly. "Goodbye, Aladdin." Pulling his hand back for the oncoming strike, the wizard froze at a sudden voice.

"Hello, Mozenrath!"

The princess? But she...Mozenrath growled in his head, externally pouting somewhat while Aladdin sported an infuriating, 'I told you so' look, then emphasizing it by actually saying, "Told ya."

Looking up, the young lord saw Jasmine standing what was supposed to be casually, inspecting her (ever-so-pretty) nails, with the confident words, "I always get my man."

Mozenrath regained his mockingly pleasant demeanor, which he had adopted over the years here, laughing, "Look, Xerxes, it's the royal pain!" His hand, almost on instinct at this point, pet his familiar, fingers stroking from underbelly to chin as the eel looked up at the now enraged young woman who was glaring at him with all she had. "Ooh, if looks could bruise!"

Apparently, that was the last straw for Princess Jasmine, and she zoomed down on Carpet, jumping off halfway to fall at an angle towards her foe. Pulling back his arm, to counter her, Mozenrath was instead knocked backwards as the girl landed a kick in the middle of his chest, thus pushing him off the precarious edge of the rock he had been standing on. Carpet managed to catch the girl after her fall and fly her to solid ground, but of course, no one bothered to even go check if Mozenrath had survived.

And he had, managing to use the magic that still radiated around his Gauntlet from the attack he had been planning to use on Jasmine to dig his fingers into the solid face of rock he had fallen along, just barely sparing himself from a sharp and painful fall onto the also sharp and painful-looking rocks below. Needless to say, he was _not_ happy.

Climbing his way back up, to Jasmine's shock in particular, who had been sure he was dead, Mozenrath broke off the chunk of rock he stood on, raising it menacingly above the princess with his magic as he threatened, "Are you clear on just how excruciatingly _painful_ my powers can be?!" Furious at the girl now, he prepared a killing blow, only to be interrupted in his rage when Xerxes flew up, turning his head towards where Aladdin was with his tail, saying, "The trap!"

Genie was there with a pair of scissors, placing a hand on one arm-restraint while snipping the other, before finding his hand was stuck. In his inattention, the hand that held the scissors was also stuck to the glue that dripped from the cut string of blackness, and trying to free himself, the genie only managed to get his shoulders wrapped around in the stuff until only the hand with scissors still free of the sticky goop. "Don't worry, Al," he grunted out to the hanging-underneath-him Aladdin. In a monumental effort, the genie managed to cut one of the two strings the held both him and Aladdin, and he then ended up hanging from the streetrat, the two connected by the tar. Looking down at the sharp rocks below, he muttered, "Alright...worry."

"Welcome, my genie," Mozenrath spoke, kneeling from where he was to meet Genie's eyes.

"He's not your genie!" Jasmine shouted, looking as if, god forbid, she wasn't getting her way! Barely acknowledging her, the young wizard shot a blast of black and blue fire at her, sending her flying back _somewhere_ and only caring to note that she had been knocked unconscious by the force. "Why is she constantly contradicting me? Now," he began, zapping away his sand-restraints and levitating both Aladdin and Genie to the ground, "my magical captives must obey a few ground rules. I don't put up with obstinate servants!"

Genie shot up immediately at that, poking Mozenrath in the chest as he had it noted, "I'm a _free_ genie, bub! The only thing I'm a slave to is... _fashion_!" He struck a pose then, pointing to the golden manacles he wore around his wrists. "These things go great with a tasteful string of pearls!"

Ignoring the little part of him that said, " _And the monks thought_ _ **I**_ _was gay!...Well, I was, kinda, but...nevermind_!", Mozenrath played as if he didn't already know that. "How does one trap a free genie?" Reaching a hand into his cape, he removed a small blue crystal. "What is this? This might do the trick."

Genie's eyes quadrupled in size as he screamed in terror, moving quickly to stand behind Aladdin. "Genie, what is it?" the youth asked.

"The Crystal of Ix! Ooh, even to say it out loud would be to invite my doom!" This was around the time Jasmine woke up, right as Mozenrath spoke, "Allow me. Ixtala!"

"Aah! He said it!" The crystal glowed green before rising from the gloved hand it was held in, a stream of light reaching out and latching onto Xerxes, who was fearfully trying to get away from it. Mozenrath would never intentionally harm his familiar any further than at the most, throwing him off in some direction, and didn't intend to now, knowing he would come out of the situation unharmed. Indeed, the eel was sucked into the small crystal and sealed, uncomfortably, but safely, confined within the object as it fell back into his master's hand. He wasn't there long, as within seconds, Mozenrath called out, "Ixtavor!" and his familiar was spit back out.

"It only snagged the wonder-slug..." Genie noticed. "Methinks the crystal's power has been a _wee_ bit overrated. Let's see you catch a semi-phenomenal nearly-cosmic genie with that little knick-knack!"

"Point well taken," Mozenrath said calmly, "If only I had...a monumental crystal!" Further levitating the rock he stood on, he forced his hand into Dagger Rock itself, using his transportation to curl around the pointed surface, shattering whatever rock still clung to it to reveal his fail-safe, a gigantic Crystal of Ix in the midst of the rocky valley. The falling rocks were more like boulders, and Genie, Aladdin, Carpet, and Jasmine had to jump to even narrowly avoid them as they crashed to the ground.

Taking one look at the large green crystal, Genie froze. "That could do it," he mumbled before screaming and running off somewhere with Aladdin.

"Ixtala!" Mozenrath commanded once again, and the light shot from the crystal as if a spotlight, searching the area before locking onto Genie, who was hiding behind a rock, and pulling him towards his fate. Aladdin, acting quickly, grabbed onto Genie's arm, holding him back as best as he could. "Genie..." The pull soon became too strong, dragging the two of them through the air until Aladdin was able to get his feet on the ground and slow them to a halt once he was pressed against a nearby rock for stability.

Knowing he wouldn't be able to hold on forever, Mozenrath merely watched, laughing as he saw the tragic scene unfold.

From off to the sidelines, where they hadn't done anything useful for awhile, Jasmine muttered to Carpet, "Mozenrath is just full of magical power, right?" The rug nodded eagerly, seeing where this was going already. "Carpet, let's move," the princess urged, leaping onto the living floor decoration and flying off to implement their plan.

Aladdin's grip was slipping now, and Genie had to hold on to his friend with both hands just to keep from going anywhere. Chuckling sadistically, Mozenrath exclaimed, "I love it!" watching the two 'heroes' struggle between what was very literally going to be life and death.

Genie was barely hanging on now, and worried, Aladdin shouted, "Hold on!" Their hands finally disconnected, and Genie went back several feet before...jerking to a stop? One of the two, Aladdin or his genie, still had some of the black tar on their hands, and it was keeping them connected, along with keeping Genie out of the crystal, but for how long was iffy at best. Aladdin recognized the dire nature of the situation, and grabbed the tar, pulling and stretching it as he did his best to pull Genie back.

"Look how Aladdin loves his genie; he'll do anything for him. Can we really take his genie away?" Mozenrath questioned Xerxes sarcastically, and was gratified with an eager nod. "In a Gomorrah minute," he blatantly agreed, moving forward to sever the small tie genie and streetrat still had, only to be stopped by a tug on his cape. As he was yanked up and pulled away, he looked up and saw, who else, but the meddling princess. "You!"

The bitch then actually had the nerve to drop him into the stream of the Crystal of Ix, interrupting it and unfortunately changing its target. "No!" he screamed as it grabbed him, pulling Xerxes along with his own magic; if he was going to be stuck in that crystal, then by hell itself, it wasn't going to be alone. When the light from the crystal cleared, both Mozenrath and Xerxes were sealed in the large object, and a sense of triumph overtook the area. "Next time, know who you're up against!" Jasmine taunted, before riding Carpet back over to Aladdin and Genie.

"Wow! What an awesome display of manliness-uh, womanlin-uh heroics..." Genie trailed the sentence off, not quite sure which was the proper way to say it.

Copying her beau's line from that morning, Jasmine replied, "It's all in the company you keep."

Back at the palace, the guards were informing the Sultan of what had happened. "The princess caught the evil one in his own trap!" the heavy guard exclaimed.

"It...it was remarkable, your Highness," Razoul added, more than likely just for the want to get in the last word.

"Not so remarkable, really," the Sultan answered, grinning with pride. "After all, Razoul, she _is_ my daughter." The man giggled, patting Jasmine on the hand with an air of congratulations about him.

Pulling the girl away from her father by her shoulders, Aladdin murmured, "My hero..." and the two looked about to kiss when Genie split them apart. "Hey, anyone seen our funny animal sidekicks?"

 

* * *

 

"Dagger Rock," Iago spoke, decked out entirely in war gear, "twelve o'clock high..."

Abu squeaked in agreement, also looking ready for battle as he followed the parrot in trudging about the area. "It's showtime!" Iago shouted, his belt becoming studded with an array of blades and the monkey's backpack became a dangerous-looking crossbow before the two of them looked around at the empty surroundings. "Where is everybody? I think those shambling, half-dead Mamluk guys gave us bad directions. Maybe we're supposed to go to...Danger Rock or Dagger Reef...Eh, I don't know, I'm more of a nautical thinker."

Still trapped within the crystal, Mozenrath's eyes glowed before the encasement began to crack gradually, then shattering into a million pieces as the young lord landed gracefully on his feet before the two now-terrified animals. Levitating the parrot into the air, he glared at him eye-to-eye. "You're Aladdin's annoying bird, aren't you?" Once he nodded, the wizard continued, "Well, then, you tell Aladdin that he should sleep with one eye open from now on, because I don't take well to being defeated, and I won't back down. Tell him I'm going to hold his pathetic little life in my hands and crush it without mercy. Did you get all that, bird?"

"U-uh-huh," Iago squeaked out, grateful as he was let go of the magical grip, only to be hissed at viciously by Xerxes, causing him to fly a little further away from master and familiar in fear.

"So what are you waiting for, you little vermin? Get out of my sight!" He sneered disgustedly at the small animals as they quickly ran/flew away, before Xerxes decided to speak up.

"New plan?"

Mozenrath nodded with a rather sadistic look on his face. "Yes, Xerxes, I've got a new plan. It was my error here not to factor in Aladdin's pathetic friends, but this time... _there will be no such mistakes._ "


	8. Chapter 8

A mist-like smoke billowed through the air as three figures leapt from roof to roof silently, keeping their presence as hidden as possible as they went about their mission.

These three were none other than Princess Jasmine, the monkey, Abu, and of course, the one no group would be complete without, the infamous Aladdin. The area they snuck about in was the gloomy, abandoned city owned by none other than the just-as-infamous sorcerer, Mozenrath.

The three humanoids had not yet been captured and intended to keep it that way. Aladdin quietly signaled Jasmine, who wore a skimpier outfit than usual that basically made her look like some sort of odd dominatrix (though she apparently considered it good battle-wear), that the coast was clear to leap onto his roof.

Jumping across the small gap, Jasmine landed next to her beau, who then spoke in a whisper, "Come on, let's keep moving," only to be stopped in his determined march forward as she pulled him back by the arm.

"We're missing somebody."

Frowning, Aladdin asked, exasperated, "Where is he _now_?"

It didn't take long for the couple to spot the small and previously AWOL monkey, doing showy and extravagant flips through the air before landing dramatically on a large crystal at the top of a post, scouting for any sign of danger (though it was doubtful that, had there been any danger, Abu would have done anything but be frightened).

"Abu," Aladdin proclaimed in a whisper, "Dark Defender of the Night."

Before anymore of Batman's thunder could be stolen by the monkey, Abu's new 'reputation' was abruptly ruined as he screeched in terror when an electric blue glow lit up the crystal, which was, in retrospect, similar in design to a modern lamppost. The similarity was lost on all present. Clinging to Aladdin's head, terrified, Abu only shook as the youth pulled him off of his face and assured, "Relax, Abu; that glowing crystal is a good thing." At the monkey's confused squeak, he elaborated, "Mozenrath has them all over the place to let him know if anything magical comes into his kingdom." Indeed, looking around, the crystals were on just about every empty street corner, just another callback to the sorcerer's modern heritage that went unappreciated by anyone around.

"If that one's glowing," Jasmine spoke up, "Mozenrath's new magic weapon could be close." Ah, yes, his new magic weapon: the entire reason for the trio's little visit to the Land of the Black Sands that gloomy night...or was it morning? It was so hard to tell in this place, it was _always_ dark! The point was, though, that they had come to keep Mozenrath from getting his hands on this new weapon, something he would undoubtedly use against the kingdom of Agrabah the first chance he got.

And he _would_ use it on Agrabah, if not to test the destructive power of it, then at least for revenge and his own peace of mind knowing Aladdin was out of his hair for good.

This, of course, they could not let happen, and so here they were in Mozenrath's perpetual land of night to steal it away from him before any damage was done.

Seeing a cart drive past the glowing magic-sensor, (presumably what was causing it to glow in the first place) a Mamluk at the reins of the horses carrying it and the contents of the cart covered up, the ever-impulsive Aladdin muttered the words, "One way to find out."

Abu's attempted battle-screech was muffled by Aladdin's hand and the monkey was only further quieted by the glares both the princess and his friend sent his way. The two humans then silently jumped from the roof, bouncing off the tarp of what was probably once a fruit or goods stand to land on the ground while Abu employed his acrobatic skills to play lookout atop the crystal. Not five seconds into his duty, however, he spotted two forces already closing in on his friends (though said forces were unaware that they were doing so), one a patrolling troop of three Mamluks and the other the cart that they had already seen approaching.

Desperate to warn his friends of the danger, Abu skittered down the post, only to be caught by his purple cape on the thorny points protruding from the wood. Abu pulled frantically at the caught material to no avail, only to pull harder as the troop got closer and closer to him until he was finally freed when Jasmine's whip, apparently her dominatrix weapon of choice, curled around him and yanked him to safety. The caught bit of the cape was torn off as he was pulled away. Slamming into a stone wall, he squeaked in pain only to have the princess's hand, her well-manicured hand if one were to be specific on details, cover his mouth as she shushed him.

"The Mamluks are on patrol," Aladdin noted, as if to warn his friends who had, no doubt already seen it for themselves.

Jasmine frowned, declaring, "I'd fight a dozen Mamluks to keep that weapon out of Mozenrath's hands." Noble was the princess's intent, but there would be a lot more than a _dozen_ Mamluks to fight if they were captured. After all, they mostly traveled in groups unless ordered otherwise, and when facing an enemy, they called as many "friends" to them as they could; Mamluks were the pawns of Mozenrath's kingdom: _far_ weaker than the king or even his at-one-time aquatic rook, but there were _just_ so much more of them, making the undead creatures _just_ that much harder to deal with.

"I'd just like to know what we're up against." This was an unusual thing for Aladdin to say, as normally, the type of threat they faced was of no issue to him, only that it would soon be defeated, but nonetheless, the statement was spoken.

"My father's spies heard Mozenrath's weapon could spell Agrabah's doom." Jasmine was adequately worried, but had honestly been shocked when her father had told her this information, as she had never even considered that the Sultan would be so clever as to have spies in the first place.

"I guess that's all we need to know, then." Aladdin smiled confidently while Jasmine and Abu shared slightly uncertain looks.

 

* * *

 

Back at the royal palace, Genie and Carpet were playing a game, as they usually did, this time a board game instead of cards, and Iago was sprawled out on a heavily-pillowed couch, seemingly asleep.

It was Carpet's turn, so he rolled the dice, and as they clattered to the board, Genie took one look, and exclaimed, "Woohoo! You're going to land on Agrabah Place, where I have erected a super-deluxe megapalace!" Ignoring the genie's smug outburst, Carpet took hold of his playing piece, ironically _also_ a carpet, with one of his tassels and began moving it across the board. "Say hello to bankruptcy," Genie continued, but Carpet remained unphased.

The reason why became obvious when Carpet's playing piece landed not on Genie's fortress of funditude, but one space afterwards. Apparently, Genie had misread Carpet's dice roll, and had jumped the gun.

"You missed it by one?!" he exclaimed, shocked and disappointed. Carpet reached forward to draw a card while Iago advised, "I told you, don't waste your money on palaces, and _always_ keep a 'Get Out of Dungeon Free' card handy."

Carpet waved his tassel enthusiastically to get his playing companion's attention despite his lack of speech. "What?" he questioned in an exasperated manner, already sore about this turn's letdown. Looking at the card his woven friend held in front of him, he read aloud, "You have been elected Sultan of the land. Other players pay you 50 gold pieces." Genie frowned and handed the card back, remarking, "Missed it by one, and I pay _him_ 50 gold pieces?"

Iago, on the other hand, was entirely unconcerned with the magical creatures' game, and drew out a stem of grapes from the fruit bowl beside him on the window-ledge. He bit off a few before placing the rest on the pillow behind him. Spitting out a seed, he noted, "I can't remember the last time Aladdin just let us lounge in the palace." Of course, the second the words left his beak, the oddness of the occasion struck him, and he sat upright within a heartbeat, nailing a bird flying past the window with the rest of the grape seeds in his mouth. "Say, where are the kid and the monkey, anyway?"

"I don't know, and I don't care!" Genie was still in the midst of his temper tantrum over the game. He'd never beaten Carpet yet! And by the looks of things, the odds weren't good.

Iago's eyes widened, and he flew to his blue friend's side while Carpet collected his winnings. "Aladdin didn't tell you what he was doing tonight?"

"He and Jasmine probably went on a date," Genie decided, uninterestedly looking over the pair of dice in his hand, wondering if they were rigged.

"With the monkey?" Iago challenged, "Nah, something's up."

"Can't you see I have a game to lose here?" Genie didn't like losing, but if he was going to lose, he'd rather get it over with quickly instead of dragging the humiliation out.

"This may just fuel my paranoid delusions," the parrot announced, "but I'm gonna nose around." And with that, he flew out of the room and into the empty corridors of the palace.

It wasn't long before he heard the Sultan's familiar voice at the cracked open door of his throne room, speaking the words, "I'm not so sure I should have let them go by themselves. It's an extremely dangerous undertaking, very risky." This, obviously caught the nosy bird's attention, and he muttered questioningly, "Risky?" before stopping to hear the rest of the conversation. "But, I trust Aladdin's judgement." Peeking into the throne room, still lit at the late hour of the night, Iago saw that the Sultan was talking to the captain of the guard, Razoul. "But, if they are successful, it will most definitely be worth it." Of course, Iago only ever had one thing on his mind, and that was treasure, so it was only natural that this sentence caught his ear, and grinning avariciously, he repeated, "Worth it..."

"Do not pass 'GO', do not collect 200 gold pieces, go directly to dungeon," Genie muttered off the card he had drawn dejectedly. He truly had the worst luck at these things.

"I was right!" Iago loud voice exploded into the room as he flew in, excited.

"Yeah," Genie agreed, "a 'Get Out of Dungeon Free' card would come in handy right about now."

"No!" Iago swatted the card from the large, blue hand, grabbing Genie's pointed ears and pulling him closer to emphasize his news. "My paranoia is confirmed!" He let go of his friend's ears and they returned to his head with a snap. "They cut me out of the deal," he all but whispered, before shouting, indignant, as he kicked over the pile of gold pieces Carpet had won in the game, "they cut us _all_ out! But _me!_ That's the part that hurts."

"Who cut who out of what?" Genie asked, completely confused at this point.

"Who do you think?" the parrot asked darkly, severely angered at this point. "The kid, the princess, and that stinky little monkey!" he cried, stamping his claws on the game board furiously.

Genie, now in the classic garb of an old-time reporter, plucked the bird up in one hand. "Son, a good reporter needs less opinion and more fact!" Dropping him, papers and a typewriter, the latter with Genie's face on it, appeared on the table, and the typewriter-face spoke, "Give me whatcha got!"

Without hesitation, Iago informed, "Aladdin, Princess Jasmine, and Abu are missing."

"Ooh, I smell a scoop! We could be talking front page!" An Agrabanian-esque newspaper poofed into Genie's hands, the front cover featuring a photograph of said missing beings. Abandoning the reporter costume, the magical creature inserted a piece of paper into the now faceless typewriter, asking, "So, where are they?"

"They are on a treasure hunt without us!" The fury at being left out of a search for the one thing he loved most was quickly returning. This was cut off by the typewriter, which he had been standing next to, smacking him in the head. This signified to Genie that it was time to push it back to the other side to start a new line.

"Name your sources," the genie demanded skeptically, knowing Iago's tendency to exaggerate.

"The Sultan," the parrot spoke confidently, "and I quote, 'It is an extremely dengerous undertaking, but if they are successful, it will most definitely be worth it.'" The bird's impression of Jasmine's father was dead-on, his feathers fluffed out to imitate the pudgy man and a single feather on his head to represent his hat. The voice was even in the exact same pitch and tone, and if you weren't looking at Iago, you would swear it was the Sultan himself.

"Oh," Genie looked unsure now, "that's a highly-placed source in today's administration..."

Iago was fed up the questioning now, and he exclaimed, "Think, people, think!" ignoring the fact that no one in the room was really a person. "'Danger' plus 'worth it' equals treasure hunt."

"But why would Al keep it a secret?" Genie wondered aloud, as this was one of the major flaws in Iago's theory.

"Because he doesn't wanna share," the parrot stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Nope!" Genie exclaimed, "Not buying it." Carpet agreed, shaking his head...er...upper-half in the negative. Aladdin was selfless, he would probably never go somewhere dangerous _just_ to get a treasure, and if he would, he wouldn't be greedy; this was just Iago, pushing his own personality on others.

A lightbulb suddenly appeared over Genie's head, and making it disappear, he began announcing his new idea. "There's only one way to settle this: we'll just have to check 'The Big Book of Stuff We're Not Supposed to Know'!" Within seconds, the large tome apparated itself into his hands. Putting on a pair of reading glasses, he opened the book and began thumbing through pages. "Hmm, 'What the Tooth Fairy Does With All Those Molars', 'What is Really in a Tongue Sandwich', blagh!"

Carpet snapped his tassel, earning a "What?" from Iago before he scooped the book up with his bottom-half and quickly flipped through the pages with the tassels of his upper-half. It wasn't long before he found the page he was looking for, wiggling excitedly before presenting the book to the genie and parrot.

"'Aladdin, Jasmine and Abu are in...the Land of the Black Sands'?!" He read the words, but hearing them aloud, even from his own mouth, furthered the blue creature's shock. Why would they be in a dangerous place like that?!

Taking it as more proof for his argument, Iago asserted, "Nobody would go to the Land of the Black Sands unless it was to get a real juicy treasure!"

Snapping his avian friend's beak shut with his fingers, Genie muttered thoughtfully, "Al wouldn't tangle with Mozenrath just to get some treasure. They must be in some sort of trouble!"

Freeing himself from the hand that held his beak closed, Iago perched himself of Genie's shoulder. "You say 'tomato', I say 'tomahto'. You say 'trouble', I say 'treasure'."

The bird was swiftly ignored. "Carpet! Let's move." And that was all the motivation three needed to go zooming out of the palace with the intent of rescue 2:1 with treasure hunting.

 

* * *

 

Back in the Land of the Black Sands, as the cart driven by a Mamluk was plodding through the abandoned street, a whip shot forward, curling around a demon-like decorative bust on an archway. At the end of the whip was the fair princess Jasmine, who then tugged hard of the long cord of leather, letting the momentum propel her forward to kick the undead creature from the driver's seat where it then crashed into a pile of barrels. "It's all yours, Aladdin!" the young woman said to her beau, perched atop the previous archway with Abu.

"Where does a princess learn this stuff?" Aladdin addressed his primate companion, and to be honest, that seemed to be the end-all question of the hour. Regardless, the two leapt from their high altitude to land perfectly in the driver's seat of the cart, Aladdin quickly grasping the reigns to keep the horses moving while Jasmine jumped onto the back of the wooden vehicle.

"Aah, that went well," the princess sighed happily, lounging next to the large, cloth-covered object in the back.

"Looks like we're home-free!" Aladdin agreed, driving the horses into a wild gallop through the empty streets. The plan was going off without a hitch! Or, it _was,_ that is, until a troop of four Mamluks came into view, the floating eel otherwise known as Xerxes leading them. This platoon was strictly there on Mozenrath's orders to keep a lookout for the powerful delivery.

"Halt!" Xerxes demanded, and Aladdin quickly put on his hood and obligingly stopped, hoping beyond hope the eel wouldn't catch on. "Have weapon?"

Pretending he was a Mamluk, Aladdin grunted an unintelligible reply and nodded, figuring that this would be a sufficient enough answer for the creature.

"Ooh," the eel cooed, "magic weapon!" Flying to the back of the cart, where Jasmine had hidden herself under the dusky blue cloth which covered what felt on her back like a crate, he inspected it quickly before asserting to the driver, "Take to master!" Oh, yes, Xerxes _loved_ his authority. Any of his commands could easily be overridden by one of his master's, but the meaning behind the gesture of allowing Xerxes second-in-command control over his vast army did _not_ go unappreciated.

Aladdin once again grunted questioningly, as if he didn't understand the question, to which Xerxes frowned and snarled, "Mozenrath! Take to Mozenrath!"

Another reply was forced out and he snapped the horses to attention again, beginning to move forward in the hopes of further escape. The Mamluks moved aside obligingly for the cart, but Xerxes gaped for a moment before shooting in front of the driver. "Wrong way!" he manipulated his purple-frilled tail into the shape of a pointing hand in the opposite direction. "Citadel there!" Sparing a glance at who he believed to be a particularly stupid Mamluk and then his master's proud fortress, as dark and gloomy as the land surrounding it, he informed the undead thing, "Mozenrath waits," before taking off into the air to follow the cart as it changed direction under the watchful eye of the evil sorcerer's familiar.

 

* * *

 

Elsewhere, two Mamluks met at an empty intersection of road, nodding once at each other before going their separate ways. One of the two looked suspicious of something, and upon closer inspection, it would become obvious that this was because it wasn't a Mamluk at all, merely Genie in disguise as one. Iago, peeved, peeked out from under the genie's hat, grumbling, "This had better be a really choice treasure..." Carpet flew up from beneath the two, which Genie took as his cue to change back into himself. Unfortunately, he had forgotten to unsew his lips when he had changed back, and so only made a muffled sound before Iago remedied the situation with his claws. The magical creature cracked his jaw a few times experimentally, sighing, "That's better. Now let's find our friends before the cadaver cavalcade does!"

"Hey," Iago wondered aloud as Carpet flew over to a lamppost, inspecting the base, "what's with the rug?"

As said rug picked up a shred of cloth, the very same one torn off of Abu's miniature cloak, the large, blue crystal atop the post began glowing, the bright electric blue casting an out-of-place light over the area.

The small group took no notice of this, however, and Genie asked, "Find something of note there, wonder-rug?" Carpet quickly flew over to present what he had found. "Ah, a clue!" Plucking a few hairs off of the fabric, Genie declared, "We must analyze this hair. This calls for...science!"

The immediate area now resembled a scientific workshop, but before any analyzation could actually be done, Iago snatched up the hair with a, "Give me that!" Taking a whiff of the hair, he exclaimed, "Eugh!" and fell dizzily to the ground. "That's Abu all right."

"Oh, sure, if you want to do it the _easy_ way..." Genie said, poofing all the extravagance away. Carpet decided that this wasn't the time to be idly hanging around, and so he gestured for his friends to follow him. Doing so, Genie muttered, "Look alive, boys, Mamluks lurk around every corner..." Of course, the brightly glowing lamp still managed to escape their notice, and so it went unheeded.

A passing platoon of Mamluks, however, did not fail to notice, and every lamp down that particular street was lit up where the trio walked. Springing into action, they quickly ran to gather more forces.

 

* * *

 

The snake-emblazoned doors were quick approaching in Aladdin's field of vision now, and his only thought was the irony and unfairness of the situation: instead of keeping the weapon from his foe, he was handing it to him on a silver platter! Daring a glance back at Jasmine, he was given an assuring look from where she hid under the cloth. The princess honestly hoped she didn't have to stay there much longer. She couldn't see anything from her hiding place for the darkness, but she heard heavy, inhuman breathing, and the crate between it, whatever it was, and herself didn't reassure her as much as she had hoped.

"It's here!" Xerxes announced to his master as he stepped forth from the magically-opened doors.

"Finally! I should shred you for being late," he scowled at the driver, who thankfully couldn't see the glare, before smiling amiably, "but, I'm in too good of a mood." The young sorcerer leisurely walked to the back of the cart, though Xerxes, knowing his master well enough, noticed an extra bit of spring in his step at the prospect of finally having _this_ in his hands. "This is the eve of my ultimate conquest. At last, I have the power to lay waste to the seven deserts." Taking the cloth that kept him from his weapon, he was just about to throw off the obstruction when Xerxes vied for his attention.

"Mozenrath!" he alerted, positioning himself between his master and the cart. "Trouble brews..."

"Indeed it does, Xerxes," he acknowledged, taking hold of his familiar, "if you persist with this interruption." Under the cloth, Jasmine mentally sighed in relief. If Xerxes could keep Mozenrath busy for a little longer, she might be able to move somewhere where she wouldn't be seen so easily once the cover was thrown off.

Squirming against the leather-gloved hand's grip, Xerxes clarified, "Magical intruders."

The eel was immediately released, and the dark-haired youth gasped, "What?" glancing suspiciously back at the cart.

"There, there!" Xerxes pointed with his tail to the surrounding city practically every lamp glowing brightly.

Mozenrath frowned; he did _not_ like these kinds of surprises, especially on such a night. Approaching the driver, he commanded, "Stay with the cart," adding, purely as a joke, "I'll be back in a flash." The blue light of his magic did then flash, and the sorcerer and his familiar were gone.

The entire group, Aladdin, Jasmine, and Abu took the moment of peace to relax. "Lucky break," stated the leader.

"Let's not waste it," piped in Jasmine from the back, and Aladdin obligingly alerted the horses that they were moving again, this time away from the castle.

 

* * *

 

The 'rescue party', on the other hand, was moving _towards_ the castle, and Iago was getting nervous. "Uh, let's just get the treasure and get out of here..."

Genie, however, had no such qualms, and having finally noticed the lamps, got close to one and waved his arms, smiling as it glowed. "See? It's starting to light up! Self-lighting lamps; what a great idea! How do you suppose they work? Do they sense motion?"

"Magic, actually," Mozenrath interjected, smirking devilishly when the two magical creatures and the parrot whipped around to face him with expressions somewhere between shock and horror. "Hi, kids," he taunted in greeting, before mentally casting a spell and using the gauntlet to amplify it's power. Imagine their surprise when they were all held fast by a coil of chains, instead of blasted to bits. "I am _so_ glad I ran into you," he stated, laying a hand on the genie's shoulder with a smile, "because wherever I find you _bumbling sidekicks_ , I'm sure to find..."

"Aladdin!" Xerxes finished, flying in front of his master and baring his sharp rows of teeth in a wicked grin.

Genie looked nervous at first, but then became confident remembering that he was a genie. "You think these _pathetic_ little manacles will hold me, Mozenrath?" Attempting to use his magic to free himself was met with a powerful electric shock, and he yelped an "Ow!" before drooping forwards to catch his breath.

"Anti-magic manacles," Xerxes snickered as he gave the quick explanation, wondering if the genie was stupid enough to try it again; he had rather liked the light-show the electricity made.

"Hmm," Genie murmured thoughtfully, "I was not aware of such a product."

"I made them," Mozenrath clarified, "and these crystals, too. They alert me to...uninvited magic. Then I can proceed with capture, torment, abuse—"

"Whatever!" Xerxes once again finished for his master, who merely smiled charmingly at his captive audience.

"Eh, heh," Iago laughed nervously, "me being non-magical and all, I'm off on a technicality, right?"

Yanking up the bird's chain, which was more added on to the other, allowing such an action, Mozenrath answered, "Wrong. But I might delay the pain and suffering... _if_ you tell me where Aladdin is."

Genie gasped before he changed into a soldier. "Go on, torture us, ya' stinkin' rat! All you'll get is name, rank, and favorite cereal!"

Iago, on the other hand..."No! Don't torture us! We know nothing! We're ignoramuses! The kid ditched us back at Agrabah, just left without the magic carpet and genie. Why? You tell me, 'cause I don't know!"

Realization struck Genie at that moment, and without thinking, he spoke, "Because the carpet and the genie would set off the local bad-guy security system."

Grinning, Xerxes noted, "Genie smart," before being alerted that his master needed a bit of an ego boost at the moment by a gloved hand around his middle. He quickly amended, "Mozenrath smarter!"

The sorcerer smiled, instantly releasing his familiar and addressing his captives again. "Thanks to the genius," he referred to Genie, "we now know that Aladdin is here."

"I did not say that!" Genie insisted vehemently, before wondering out loud, "Did I say that?"

"Start search?" Xerxes proposed, to which his master was quiet for a moment.

The epiphany hit him in the space of an instant, and the sorcerer smirked. "The driver."

 

* * *

 

Aladdin, meanwhile was speeding across the desert as fast as the horses would take him, and Jasmine exclaimed happily, "We're going to make it!"

As they say, though, never count your chickens before they hatch, because a storm of blue lightning, sans rain or thunder, suddenly touched down and stayed too briefly to be natural. Two swords poked up through the sand, shortly followed by the Mamluks holding them, and as the cart passed the two undead creatures, they severed the ties holding the horses to the rest of the cart. While the two equestrian animals galloped off into the desert, the cart skidded to a violent halt in the sand.

The two Mamluks who had destroyed their transportation were fast approaching from behind, now, and Jasmine leapt into action. Cracking her whip, she shot the cord around one Mamluk's sword-holding hand, meaning to pull the weapon away from it, only to gasp as the entire arm came off instead.

"Don't worry, Jasmine, they don't feel a thing!" Aladdin assured the princess, picking up the lost sword for himself and beginning battle with the other Mamluk. The disembodied arm clasped around his ankle, and trying to shake it off, he added, "Which _can_ be a problem..."

Abu quickly took his cue to help, yanking at the arm around his friend's foot and throwing it aside while smiling proudly at his contribution. This pride was cut short when a whipcord body coiled tightly around his, restricting any and all movement on his part. "Hi, monkey!" Xerxes greeted the fellow creature with no small hint of wickedness in his tone.

"Abu!" Aladdin shouted, concerned, while a bright flash lit up the immediate area behind him.

"Aladdin, you were in my kingdom, but you didn't look me up?" Mozenrath chastized his foe. "I'm hurt."

As a Mamluk came behind the streetrat and tried to restrain him, he grumbled, "Get used to the feeling!" The undead servant was flipped over his shoulder, causing the thing to roll like a bowling ball towards the sorcerer.

Barely putting an effort into it, Mozenrath simply zapped the thing to pieces with a magical bolt of energy, deciding today was a good day for puns and wordplay. "This is the problem with undead servants, always falling apart on the job." A whip then cracked around his gloved wrist, and blinking at it, momentarily surprised, he glanced to the end of it. _And the award for biggest tramp in Agrabah goes to...Princess Jasmine, come on down!_ He didn't say this, of course, but he _was_ thinking it quite loudly. "Want this?" he asked, referring to his Gauntlet. "Careful, it packs a punch." Gripping the girl's weapon tightly in his fist, he sent another bolt of energy through it, causing Jasmine to scream as the blast made contact with her before she collapsed to the ground.

"Jasmine!" Aladdin exclaimed, before taking action. Wrapping an arm around Mozenrath's throat in a sort of choke-hold and grasping the older male's more powerful hand tightly, he demanded, "This ends _now_ Mozenrath!"

Completely unaffected by this, the sorcerer smiled, answering, "If only life were so cut and dried." Using his own magic, instead of drawing on his Gauntlet, he called forth the Mamluks he had ordered to keep the prisoners in check, namely the genie, the carpet, and the parrot.

At Aladdin's shocked look, said parrot attempted an explanation. "We were just sittin' at home, mindin' our own business when, bang, zoom, and uh, here we be!"

Laughingly, Mozenrath spoke up. "A surprise complication! So, what'll it be? Surrender, or..."

"French-fried friends?" the ever-faithful Xerxes ended.

"Don't worry about us, Al," Genie nobly suggested.

Iago, however, exclaimed, "Who asked you?! Worry, Al, fret, even!"

Aladdin scowled before releasing the young lord, reluctantly admitting, "You win, Mozenrath."

Grinning, Mozenrath readjusted his Gauntlet. "Status quo."

 

* * *

 

It was mere minutes later that the entire group found themselves in Mozenrath's holding chamber, not exactly a dungeon, but there were manacles that held them to the wall, so it sufficed particularly well as such.

"You don't think he'll hurt us, do ya'?" Iago asked, fearful of the concept of pain. "Very few treasures are worth the risk of open wounds."

"There's no treasure, Iago," Aladdin informed him to which Jasmine then elaborated, "We were on a mission to capture a weapon, not a treasure hunt."

"And you would have got it, too, if we'd kept our big, dumb noses out of it," Genie said dejectedly. Even Carpet drooped down, sadden by the prospect of hurting his friends instead of helping them.

"We had to keep our plan a secret," Jasmine assured the two, feeling sorry for them. "We knew you two would never let us face the danger alone."

"Okay, the magic boys, I get, but why not tell me?" Iago asked. "I have _no qualms_ with you facing danger solo."

"We didn't tell you, because you have a big mouth!" Aladdin shouted at the bird.

"Oh. Good point," he sheepishly agreed.

"Sooo," Genie began, trying to lighten the mood as best as he could, "what's the big weapon?"

The door slammed open, Mozenrath, Xerxes, and the mysterious crate in the doorway. "Expiring minds want to know: what's in the crate?" the sorcerer spoke, levitating the box towards the middle of the room.

"Yeah, what's in the crate?" Xerxes augmented his master.

"Far be it from me to keep you all in suspense! May I present...Scirocco!" The box burst open, and a swirling gale of very pale purple and maroon emerged, darting quickly here and there.

"You bought wind?" Iago questioned. "Oh, _there's_ a lethal weapon! Hey, I'll sell you some sand to go with it!"

"Big mouth, Iago," Aladdin muttered. "Big. Mouth."

"Scirocco," Mozenrath elaborated, even as the colored wind began twining and twisting around his and raising him off the floor, "a magical wind from a dark and dangerous corner of my desert! Hear me, Scirocco! Hear the voice of your master, and _obey!_ " His Gauntlet glowed as his magic gripped the creature's mind, forcing the order into it's head.

Jumping from the tornado-like gale, the young sorcerer landed gracefully on his marble floor while the wind crashed in front of him, dispelling momentarily only to reshape into a large canine-like creature. It resembled a kind of jackal, but _much_ larger, just about the size of Mozenrath himself. It's fur was mainly of a light purple coloring, but it's long, bushy tail, and almost lion-like mane around it's neck were a red hue, only equaled in shade by it's pupil-less eyes. This was Scirocco, a powerful wind jackal, and the beautiful creature was now subject to Mozenrath's every whim.

"Scirocco," the young lord gestured to a large pillar near the captives, "destroy."

The wind jackal blew towards the object, and within seconds, it was reduced to a pile of fine dust under the hurricane gale. Before returning to his new master, the large canine decided he wasn't fond of the brightly colored bird in the room, and growled at it in warning of its dislike.

"Heh, nice poochie..." Okay, so Iago took back the 'wind' comment, now.

Scirocco dismissing what he assumed was some kind of peace offering from the bird was signified by the loud noise of blowing wind, and the jackal was back at Mozenrath's side.

"Scirocco can reduce an entire kingdom to dust," he stated proudly, laying a hand on the animal's large muzzle. "Who would dare challenge such power?"

"My father will fight you to his last breath!" Jasmine was confident in her father's abilities, and his army.

Approaching the girl, Mozenrath lifted her chin with a finger, explaining condescendingly, "My dear princess, the leaders of the seven deserts will have a choice: grovel at _my_ feet, or _gravel_ at theirs."

The wind-jackal then decided he wasn't getting enough attention from his master, and moved closer, lying down submissively at the sorcerer's feet, to which he was acknowledged with a head-pat. "It begins at dawn, when I destroy all of you and Agrabah."

"Ha!" Genie interjected. "You can't be in two places at once! You have to destroy Agrabah _or_ us."

"Eh, go for Agrabah." Where _did_ Iago's cowardice end?

Mozenrath merely smiled as he continued on, "I direct your attention to the ceiling, where you'll notice a rather large diamond." And so there was, enough diamond that had his intent been to impress a woman, she may have fainted straight away at the sight of the massive rock.

"Treasure!" Iago exclaimed, "I knew it!"

"At dawn, the sun will hit that diamond, which will magnify the light into heat, and...well, it gets kind of messy from there." How long had he been waiting to have the opportunity for this particular plan? Ever since he could remember, he had wanted to pull this kind of trick, and yet had never been able to get his hands on a large enough diamond. Hopefully, the effort wouldn't be wasted.

"Ah, you kids take this treasure, I'll, uh, get the next one..." the parrot decided.

"Nice try, Mozenrath," Genie cut in again, "but a genie isn't afraid of a little sunburn. Another amateurish oversight."

"Okay, then," he acknowledged, Xerxes following closely to hover at his master's left shoulder, "Everybody else expires at dawn while I blow away Agrabah. Then, say noonish, I return and devise some way to destroy you."

"Good plan!" Xerxes was enthusiastic in his support of this, probably because the genie had a tendency to do stupid things that messed up plans. The eel was eager to get the ever-so-frequent roadblock out of the way.

"You...could do it that way," the blue entity murmured sheepishly, turning away.

"Well, I could rave all night, but I've got a city to destroy." Mozenrath, ever charming even in such a deed began leaving the room, pausing momentarily to beckon, "Scirocco, come."

And with a loud crack, the door slammed shut, leaving the captives alone in their encumbrances.

 

* * *

 

The sun barely shone over the horizon of the desert on the outskirts of the Agrabanian city as four guards watched the distant, burning star with a sense of detachment. Among the four were Razoul and his two top guards, as per usual, and another who had been chosen on the spur of the moment.

"The last sunrise this warrior may ever see," Razoul described, gazing listlessly at the rising sun.

"Nothing could be worse than to march into the Land of the Black Sands!" the chubby guard moaned fearfully, gripping his head as if to keep the oncoming terror from his skull.

"There is _one_ thing worse," Razoul corrected. "To do so with the _Sultan_ in command."

And here came the Sultan now, decked out from head to toe in armor, walking up to his men. "Ah, has anyone seen my horse? I seem to have misplaced him." This didn't seem to be a problem for the other guards, though, as their mounts remained strictly in the realm of existence, not lost in the figurative abyss where all things go when they're lost. "Well, stallion or no, I will lead this elite attack force! Aladdin and Jasmine have been gone too long." He drew his sword here, for dramatic effect. "We must bring the battle to Mozenrath!"

"No, no, old man! I've brought the battle to you!" And indeed, Mozenrath had, for he stood, mostly silhouetted by the bright glow of the sun behind him, on a nearby sand dune with Xerxes at his side. "Scirocco, hear your master's voice."

The canine howled in reply to the command, swirling himself towards the sorcerer to do whatever bidding he demanded of him, refiguring himself into a solid form in between Mozenrath and his current foes, growling menacingly in warning.

"Oh, my!" the Sultan exclaimed at the sight of the beast, and stood stock still as its vermillion eyes locked directly on him.

"Awaiting your orders, captain," Razoul murmured nervously eyeing the vicious-looking creature, baring his teeth at him as if daring, 'Try it.'

 

* * *

 

"AAAAAHHH!" Genie screamed as he was zapped again. "It's no use. I've tried everything. These anti-magic manacles are a _real_ problem."

"Another amateurish oversight!" Iago mimicked the genie's line from earlier, once again giving a perfect impression of the pitch and tone of voice that was used by the imitatee. "I'd say the brat who would be king has his bases covered."

"Not all of them," Aladdin cut in slyly, "right, Abu?"

Said monkey was meanwhile using his tail to rummage through his vest, eventually procuring what he had been looking for: a lock-pick.

Reaching the long appendage over to Genie's shackles, the primate began the effort of actually picking the lock while the blue creature assured, "No pressure, no pressure at all." Of course his tone changed rather quickly when the sun lit up the diamond, focusing several lasers at the top of the walls, lasers so powerful that as they moved along the solid surface, the wall itself was burnt away to leave a scorched indent behind. "Okay, there's pressure, _big_ pressure! Do it! Now!"

Abu squeaked nervously at that, and the extra motivation had the lock undone in seconds. Breaking free _just_ as the laser wreaked its damage on the spot where he had been shackled, Genie flew upwards at an incredibly fast speed, ramming into the diamond and somehow shattering it into what must have been a million pieces.

Free of the danger, now, the genie decided it was time to make light of the situation, and poofed in front of Aladdin wearing a ridiculous amount of jewelry. "Is this too much? Be honest!" Of course, he did realize that time was still of the essence, as Mozenrath would be at Agrabah by now, and so he quickly set his friends free with his magic.

"Let's move!" commanded their leader, and they immediately took off for home.

 

* * *

 

"Scirocco, destroy!" The wind jackal immediately jumped to obey the order while the Sultan and guards scattered at his approach. The beast swirled himself quickly around what looked to be an abandoned building, but _may_ very well have had people inside before it was reduced to complete dust.

"H-how can we fight such a beast?" Razoul stuttered, utterly terrified, now as he cowered behind a random and generic rock before it, too, was blown away by the living gust of wind.

 _You don't. That's the point of an unstoppable beast, isn't it?_ "It was worth getting up early for this," Mozenrath decided, acquiescing to Xerxes's unspoken plea to be petted by his master as he curled himself around the young lord's shoulders; brushing up against him in the manner of a house-cat. The day became even more worth losing sleep over when the Sultan tripped on a rock in the midst of fleeing Scirocco, and landed face-first in the sand. Oh, yes, definitely worth zero sleep.

"Back, you infernal beast!" the old man shouted at the jackal, regaining his footing. This provoked an attack, but mere seconds before he was to become dog-food, the Sultan was scooped up by his daughter and pulled onto Carpet as she flew by, and Scirocco growled in frustration at having lost his prey.

"Jasmine?" the elderly man questioned his daughter before fainting, not even hearing as Jasmine decided, "Let's get you out of here."

Mozenrath frowned, observing, "The princess..."

"And Aladdin!" exclaimed Xerxes, pointing to the streetrat, closely flanked by Iago and Abu.

"Oh," he said, as if entirely clueless to the situation, "did we miss much?"

Refusing to let this turn of events get him down, Mozenrath smiled, answering, "You're just in time to witness the destruction of Agrabah."

"Maybe he needs a girlfriend or something," Aladdin snarked to Abu, to which Mozenrath merely frowned in response. _Oh, please, you barely have one yourself, Mr. Hero! I bet you've never even see Jasmine naked!_ Granted, he didn't have anything to brag about, but he wasn't totally clueless, which was probably more than could be said for Aladdin, who no doubt spent all his free time thinking about what kind of monster he was going to beat up next, or what mystical quest he would go on, or something else as stupid. At least _he_ was doing something productive with his time, at least if you counted dominating several large areas with military and magical force productive. Besides, it's not like there was anyone _here_ he wanted, so why bother?

"I think he's...married to his work." Iago interjected, to which Mozenrath decided it definitely worked for him.

"It's so true! I love it!" As if to illustrate his point, he sent a magical blast Aladdin's way, knocking him flat on his ass, and Iago and Abu followed with the shockwave.

"Prepare to defend thyself, knave!" Genie shouted at the sorcerer, wearing a medieval suit of armor.

"Consider me prepared." Mozenrath crossed his arms casually before regaining his pet's attention. "Scirocco, attack!"

With a low sound somewhere between a howl and a growl, the beast jumped up, disintegrating the entire suit of armor in one fell swoop and Genie collapsed to the ground from the force of the wind.

Chuckling, Mozenrath turned to his familiar, posing, "Maybe I've found that elusive way to destroy Genie."

"Xerxes watch?" the eel asked eagerly, enthusiastic about being able to see such a foe perish under his master's hand.

And who was Mozenrath, anyways, to deny his companion such a request? A curt nod was given in answer.

"How are we doing?" Jasmine asked Aladdin, having just returned from getting her father somewhere safer.

As all three, Aladdin, Abu, and Iago, dragged themselves from the sand, the latter answered bluntly, "Not too good."

"We can still turn this around," Aladdin insisted, climbing onto Carpet behind Jasmine, "Come on, Abu!" Said monkey joined his owner on the carpet without a thought.

Scirocco growled at the annoying genie, whom he had cornered and was staring down, wondering what it would taste like if he decided to eat it.

"Destroy, Scirocco! Eradicate!" A malicious glow lit behind Mozenrath's eyes, and for a moment, the irises shined red before quickly fading into their usual blackness. Maybe he _had_ lost his mind somewhere along the way...or maybe he didn't care, and this was some of the best fun he'd had since sunrise.

Yeah, he was going to go with that second one.

Of course, leave it to Aladdin to spoil it for him by jumping from the flying carpet and slamming into the young wizard, causing the both of them to go rolling down a small hill before they stopped, Aladdin pinning Mozenrath to the ground. Xerxes moved to help as best as he could, but Abu tackled him in a likewise manner to his owner, and try as he might, he couldn't _quite_ get free from the primate's hold.

Struggling ferociously to get the streetrat off of him, Mozenrath snarled, "Scirocco, destroy Aladdin!" If there was _anything_ he hated these days, not including people, it was being touched!

"Attack this, destroy that!" Iago mocked in perfect pitch to the sorcerer's voice before switching back to his own. "And you guys say _I_ have a big mouth!"

"Iago, we need your big mouth!" Jasmine exclaimed, an idea coming to her in an instant.

Realizing that his empty struggles were getting him absolutely nowhere, (logical, seeing that Aladdin must have had at least twice his physical strength, if not more) Mozenrath used his mind to help him. Noting another hill just a foot or two behind him, he managed to overturn Aladdin so that he went rolling, once again, down the hill. Unfortunately, his hold on the sorcerer's wrists only tightened, and the dark-haired young man was pulled along with him. It could still, however, work in his favor, depending on the way they landed; all Mozenrath really needed to get the upper-hand was to be above Aladdin.

And luck was with him at that moment, because not only were the tables turned when they stopped moving, but Scirocco had abandoned Genie in favor of his master's new order, and stood at the ready, teeth bared and muscles tense in a show of dominance over his enemies.

"Scirocco, retreat!" Mozenrath gasped, eyes going wide as he heard his own voice from somewhere behind him, and looking, he saw the parrot speaking. "Scirocco, beat it! Retreat at once!"

Scirocco, though confused, nonetheless flew away from the sorcerer and his enemy to remain off to the side where he might be able to better please his master.

"Thanks," smiled Aladdin, to which Mozenrath growled almost inaudibly, standing to his full height in his fury.

"That wasn't my order. Nobody commands my magical minions but me, nobody!" His Gauntlet sparked in anticipation of an attack when he was grabbed from behind again, Aladdin once again holding his gloved hand, but this time, instead of a choke-hold, the rough, calloused hand was clasped tightly over his mouth.

"It is you, as far as Scirocco knows," Aladdin teased, easily restraining the sorcerer's attempts to wriggle out of his grip; Seriously, was he even trying?

"Ahem," Iago cleared his throat before continuing on in the smooth tone recognized by Scirocco as his master's, "Scirocco, I command you to go to the farthest corner of the earth and don't come back!"

The jackal tilted his head. What was going on? Why did his master want him to go away? With a soft whine, the beast altered himself into a funnel of wind and zoomed away, hoping beyond hope that he hadn't been dismissed because he wasn't good enough.

"Oh!" exclaimed Genie, still recovering from the armor thing, "That hurt!" Jumping to his feet, he changed himself into a much more heavily-muscled version of himself with the words, "Okay, point me towards Mozen-Rotten and his Wonder-Worm!"

Aladdin smirked at the unsure look in the normally confident wizard's eyes before shoving him towards the genie. "He's all yours."

"Whoa!" Mozenrath gasped as he was plucked off of the ground by a gigantic hand and grasped in a tight fist. Struggling for a moment, he demanded, "Unhand me!"

"Hey, good idea!" Genie complimented, unclenching his fist so that he could suspend the sorcerer by his cape in midair. "That magic hand of yours really annoys me."

Mozenrath could do little more than gape as an oversized oven-mitt poofed onto his gloved hand, but when speech returned seconds later, all he could say was, "What?!" _What the hell is wrong with this guy?! Is he nuts?!_ _Last time I checked, this wasn't_ _ **cooking class!**_

"Anti-magic mittens!" Genie explained, quite proud of himself at the development, and this was apparently true, because in an attempt to dissipate the ludicrous-looking thing, Mozenrath found that his magic was blocked. It wasn't long afterwards when Abu flung Xerxes at Genie who was then caught in the empty hand, the other now reclosed around the young sorcerer. "Now, where do I put the other one? Oh, yes!"

"Stupid genie!" Xerxes ranted, "Mozenrath-mph, umph!" Of course, the second mitten was now over Xerxes's head, preventing any speech on his part.

"Mission accomplished, Sultan," Aladdin declared proudly as the elderly man made his reappearance to the scene.

"Ahhh, what would you have done without us?" Iago wondered aloud, clearly basking in whatever glory he felt he had earned.

"I guess we'll never know." Jasmine said, glancing at Aladdin with a smile.

Sadistic laughter erupted from the dark wizard's mouth, and every head immediately turned to him.

"What's so funny, Mozenrath?" demanded Aladdin. "You lost, remember?"

"Oh," he spoke, the laughter just having died down in his chest, "I wouldn't be so sure about _that_..." His right arm, lying _atop_ Geine's fist instead of _within_ it as everyone had thought, jerked suddenly, easily throwing off the magic-blocking mitten, and it was no surprise what happened next.

The red glow that indicated a near-lethal dose of magic overtook his Gauntlet, and viciously blasted the genie, causing himself and Xerxes to be dropped as the magical entity screamed in pain. Mozenrath quickly caught his familiar and tugged the mitten off of his head, something that was _greatly_ appreciated by the eel.

With a smile, Mozenrath addressed his enemy, "Well, it's been fun, Aladdin, but I think my welcome has been overstayed." Giving a mocking bow, he bid his farewell, "Until next time, Aladdin."

Somehow, they all had a feeling that 'next time' would come sooner then they wished.


	9. Chapter 9

Xerxes jolted out of his nap on a lab table when the tell-tale sadistic laughter of his master reached his ears. Floating excitedly over to the young lord, he tilted his head, wondering, "Master have plan?"

Grinning, eyes wild with malice, Mozenrath turned to his familiar and confirmed, "Oh, yes, Xerxes, I have a plan alright...see for yourself."

Xerxes looked just over his master's shoulder and gasped, swimming backwards a few feet when his eyes met...himself?!

The other creature looked to be a carbon copy of the eel, and as the true Xerxes examined it, the copy mimicked his every move. Whirling to face Mozenrath, Xerxes queried, "Clone?"

"Not quite," the sorcerer assured, "but you were close. It _is_ your duplicate in every way as far as appearance goes, but that's all it is: an illusion." With a snap of gloved fingers, the xerox of Xerxes suddenly changed into a sight that was equally as common in the Land of the Black Sands, a Mamluk.

Before the eel could stop himself, he wondered aloud, "How...?"

"Do you really have to ask by now, Xerxes?" Mozenrath taunted playfully. "It's magic."

Hovering loyally back to his master, the eel curled around Mozenrath's shoulders, not quite holding back a growling purr as his head was stroked by a leather-encased hand. "Aladdin pays?"

"As if I would use such a detailed illusion for anyone but? He's stupid, but he has a way of noticing the little things," the sorcerer scoffed. "But first...I think we should stop off on a quick errand to get back what's ours, don't you?"

An eager nod was all the answer Mozenrath needed before zapping them to their destination.

 

* * *

 

The rain poured from the sky like a monsoon, pelting pale, drenched fur without mercy as the wind howled mockingly into ears pressed flat against a canine skull. The huge jackal curled further in on himself as if to hide from the cruel storm that assaulted him with the elements, and as his head buried itself under his large paws, a mournful whine escaped his throat. He hated it here, he wanted to go home!

"Scirocco." The jackal's ears shot up at his name, and the sight that met his blank red eyes made him freeze. _Master..._ "So this is where you've been. We've been looking for you all over, you know." Scirocco was confused; looking for him? Didn't his master tell him to leave? Why would he be looking for what he sent away?

Of course, the jackal wasn't really in any position to question anything. He was cold, wet, tired, and hungry; he just wanted to go home.

So, Scirocco rose to his feet, making sure to stay as low to the ground as possible to show his submissive behavior to the sorcerer and his eel, and lay at his master's feet, whining and nuzzling his leg in apology for whatever he had done wrong.

Mozenrath knelt to the canine's current level and held the dog's muzzle to his chest, scratching the creature affectionately behind the ears until a fluffy purple tail began wagging tentatively. As Xerxes wrapped himself around the creature's reddish mane as if a necklace, sensitive ears picked up the familiar voice of his master over the storm. "You've done nothing wrong, Scirocco." The jackal looked up cautiously, meeting the dark eyes of his master; somehow he got the feeling that their eye colors weren't quite right for either of them, and should be switched somehow. Vibrant red eyes seemed like they would suit Mozenrath far better than the dull black they were.

Nonetheless, Scirocco saw a rare earnestness in those onyx eyes, and he licked at a pale cheek in thanks.

The young lord chuckled at the gesture before deciding that they had all spent more than enough time in the rain for several years, if not decades, and transported them back to his citadel.

Happy to be back in a familiar, not to mention _warm_ , setting, Scirocco refrained from the canine tendency to shake off any and all water on himself (which happened to be a lot at the moment) in his gratitude. The gratitude payed off, as the jackal then had the luxury of being carefully dried off by two Mamluks, even if the corpse-like hands doing the drying were less than luxurious in and of themselves.

"Go on up to my room, Scirocco, you must be tired." What? He was being offered his master's sleeping place, too? And to think now that the day had started out at the ends of the earth being woken up from a fitful sleep by a thunderstorm!

Standing on his two back legs, the jackal placed his front paws on Mozenrath's black-caped shoulders and licked the young man's face happily. Instead of being pushed off and sent away like he had expected he would be, though, the sorcerer only moved him back to the ground and pet his head affectionately before nudging him in the direction of his quarters. "Go on, now. As appealing as it sounds, I'm sure you'd rather get some sleep instead of staying here and licking at me all day."

Scirocco grinned as best as he was able to as a canine, and decided to lick Xerxes as well, who had moved from around the dog's neck, and the eel snickered at the gesture before the mammalian creature turned and headed off to get a nap that was much less... _wet._

"Xerxes like jackal!" the eel proclaimed to his master.

"Yes, Xerxes," Mozenrath decided, "I like him, too." He had begun to think such displays of affection had become an impossibility for him; it was nice to know he hadn't _completely_ lost the ability to get along with others yet. And, speaking of others... "Oh, I had almost forgotten! We wouldn't want to keep our dear friend Aladdin waiting now, would we?"

 

* * *

 

It was dark in Agrabah, incredibly dark, so much so that Mozenrath and Xerxes didn't have to wait for their eyes to adjust to the brightness of the other land, which considering that it was a supernatural and perpetual night where they came from, was very, very dark. Then again, this might have been because it _was_ nighttime in Agrabah, the most conducive hour for any misdeeds one could concoct.

"The guards should be on patrol by now. Draw them away from the palace and into the streets, the further away and the least populated the better," Mozenrath instructed his familiar. "The last thing we need is some do-good citizen catching onto to our plan and giving Aladdin the 'head's up'."

Xerxes gave his master a salute, partly serious but mostly excited about the prospect of playing this integral part in the plan. "Yes, master!"

You can imagine it didn't take long for the eel to not only find the guards, but agitate them into chasing him as well, and only minutes after he had left his master's side, he found himself flying through the streets with the usual three guards, and that nondescript one that seems to have been showing up a lot lately, hot on his tail.

"Stop that... _thing_!" Razoul shouted to his men, dutifully pursuing the agile creature as it darted through the empty midnight streets of Agrabah.

Hearing the 'thing' comment, Xerxes paused a moment, mocking, "Stop thing, stop thing!" before laughing and turning another corner.

The grey-skinned guard turned to his leader then, still running as he asked, "What is it anyway?"

"Who cares?" Razoul scoffed, "It's evil, it's ugly—"

"It bites!" the chubby guard whined from the back of the platoon, the back of his pants torn open and spotted undergarments revealed to any who might have been unfortunate enough to look at the moment.

Apparently, Xerxes's hearing was extraordinarily keen, as he heard this comment as well, and confirmed to his pursuers, "I bite, I bite!" And indeed he did, which the guards should have known by now, because he had used his sharp, jagged teeth to snap at Razoul's finger but a few months ago.

The eel stopped short, however, gasping at the dead end now before him and the guards closing in. If Mozenrath was going to put his plan into action, his familiar hoped it would be soon.

"Good job, men," Razoul complimented, "the beast is trapped."

One black and and one reddish-pink eye darted left and right for any sign of his master, not wanting to simply fly away and abandon his mission, but not particularly wanting to be sliced to ribbons by the sharp swords of the guards either.

"No," the smooth voice cutting through the night air corrected, " _you_ are trapped."

"Who dares?!" Razoul questioned, whirling to face he who would interrupt his bullying of a creature smaller than he was.

"I am Mozenrath," the young sorcerer introduced himself, "Lord of the Black Sands..." And sure enough, in his gloved hand was a small pile of black sand, and with a light breath, the lord propelled his sand towards the guards.

The effect was immediate, and the sand seemed to multiply as it morphed into dark and sinister tentacles, spreading all across the ground and the surrounding area, enveloping the guards and silencing their screams before they could even tear themselves fully from their throats.

Xerxes, now secure that the guards wouldn't be a problem for him any longer, took his usual place curled around his master's shoulders. "Black sand, black sand!"

"Yes, Xerxes," he acknowledged with a head-pat, "and there's plenty more where that came from..."

 

* * *

 

Sunrise found Razoul and his men carrying a large amount of nondescript barrels from a cart and placing them in neat piles just outside the palace. What was odd about this, though, was that the guards had blank expressions on their faces, and if one didn't know better, one might claim that they were sleepwalking with their eyes open.

"That's a lot of barrels," Iago commented from his perch atop a balcony ledge overlooking the guards at work. "And you _know_ they're filled to the brim with caviar!"

Abu got closer to his avian friend, making his feelings about caviar known by holding his nose and squeaking in disgust.

"Don't obsess on the fish eggs!" the parrot exclaimed, trying to get the primate to see the big picture. "This means the Sultan's throwing a party, a clambake, a shindig! We are gonna boogaloo with the bigwigs tonight!"

This excited Abu, apparently, because he made an eager noise and jumped to strut confidently behind Iago before the bird abruptly stopped.

"Wait a minute...nobody invited _me_ to this party!" he exclaimed in revelation.

Abu squeaked in a manner which almost resembled the words, 'yeah, me neither.'

"Oh, monkey," Iago spoke, pulling the primate's arm to his head, "check my forehead. I feel moral outrage coming on! Let's get to the bottom of this!" And with that, the parrot knocked Abu off of the ledge with his wing before flying down and catching him with his talons before he could hit the ground.

As the two of them landed on the pile of barrels, Iago made their presence known with a loud, "Ahem!"

This presence was questionably known, as Razoul acted as if he hadn't heard anything and placed another barrel onto the stack, causing both Iago and Abu to jump out of the way to avoid being flattened under it.

"Didn't invite us, eh?!" the parrot shouted, flying into Razoul's face, "Bird and monkey cramp the royal style, eh?!" Noticing that Razoul had walked away, he then flew to the man's shoulder. "Well, you just tell Sultan...Hey...Razoul?" Snapping his wing in front of the blank eyes, he asked, "Anybody home? Focus, focus!"

This didn't exactly have the desired effect, and Iago soon found himself squished between two large hands.

Dropping to the ground as Abu came over to verify his friend's well-being, the bird muttered, "He's moody today."

 

* * *

 

"Aw, Jasmine, you're not still mad, are ya'?" Aladdin questioned his royal girlfriend as they stood in front of the fountain in the palace gardens.

"I'm not mad, Aladdin," Jasmine insisted, "just...irritated."

"But...the Caliph was boring!" the streetrat exclaimed before launching into his best impression of the described man. "I've got gold, I've got palaces, blah, blah, blah!"

"Be that as it may, at official dinners, we do not suddenly 'wow them with the fruit juggling-trick'."

Laughing at the memories the sentence brought back, Aladdin decided, "It was worth it just to see the Caliph with grapes up his nose. Blah, blah, blah, I've got grapes up my nose!"

Jasmine laughed, not even seeing Razoul approach the area and open a barrel, allowing the black, grainy contents to spill onto the ground before quickly and silently leaving. "Ahem," she spoke, getting a hold of herself, "Aladdin, that was not funny."

Aladdin sighed. "I don't get it; fighting monsters, okay. Fighting boredom, not okay." With that he walked away, deciding he wasn't going to get any solid ground in this argument and that he had lost.

Giggling, Jasmine called after him, "Actually, I don't care for the monster fighting, either."

Of course, Aladdin was already too far away to hear Jasmine screams as a whirlwind of black sand enveloped her before fading into a tar-like puddle.

 

* * *

 

Hiding behind a cracked-open door, Iago exclaimed, "Bingo!" as he saw Princess Jasmine walk through the halls of the palace carrying a small barrel. "The princess and caviar. Come on," the bird commanded his primate companion, "don't let on we know about the party." Abu followed eagerly.

"Whoa, ho, ho, ho, princess! Don't strain yourself with that great big barrel! Let us carry that!" Iago then proceeded to pick up the container with his claws before promptly dropping it to the monkey. "Abu, carry that."

As said monkey staggered under the weight before dropping it to the marble floor, Iago joined him on the ground, exclaiming, "What craftsmanship! What do you suppose is in it, Abu?"

All the while, Jasmine stood stock still, eyes straight forward and face blank, even as the two small creatures pried the stopper from the barrel and peeked inside.

"Oh, look," the parrot declared, "caviar! How nice!" The pleasant charade was then dropped as he turned to the princess, accusing, "You're throwing a party, aren't you?!" When he was met with no response, he continued on, "Funny how—wait..." Glancing back in the barrel, he reexamined the contents. "That's not caviar, it's just a bunch of black sand!" How this didn't trigger all kinds of warning signs in his mind was almost incredible.

However, what did trigger the warning signs was when Jasmine reached down and smacked Iago away from the barrel, leaving the cowardly Abu to sheepishly replace the stopper and back off of his own accord as the suddenly stoic woman picked up the barrel again and continued on down the hall.

"Agh..." Iago groaned from his place against the wall he had been shoved into. "Princess? Is something in the water supply? Everybody's so...moody today!" Finally having composed himself, the parrot shouted at the princess's retreating form, "Fine! We don't want to go to your stupid party!"

"What party?" Aladdin asked, having just walked into the hallway.

Iago flew up and landed on the streetrat's shoulder. "You weren't invited either? Whew, I feel better!" If even Aladdin was being left out of the occasion, Iago wasn't so exclusively excluded.

"Ah," Aladdin groaned, "Jasmine must really be mad. All because of my stupid 'wow them with the fruit-juggling trick'!"

"At least Jasmine didn't smack you!" Iago exclaimed, still sore about the event in more than one way. "Who needs their stinking party, and their, uh, their dumb old black sand?"

Finally the words triggered alarms in someone's mind, in this case Aladdin's, and he immediately asked, "Did you say 'black sand'?" in order to confirm he hadn't heard wrong.

"Yeah," validated the parrot, "I also said Jasmine smacked me! I would think that's the more important point of the story."

"Where did Jasmine go?" Aladdin demanded.

 

* * *

 

"Ladies und burgermeisters," Genie's voice in a fake German accent spoke from within his lamp, "tonight at the Hofbrau, one night only, it's the Oompah Pah Genie!" Applause echoed through the metal, and Genie's arm even came from the spout of the lamp to show his excitement as he shouted with the 'crowd'. "Danke scho! I would've been here earlier, but I had a run in my lederhosen." The imaginary crowd laughed.

Jasmine's hand tapped at the lamp, pouring the sand within her barrel onto the ground before leaving the container and the room. In a sing-song voice, Genie questioned, "Who is it? Did someone knock? Hello?"

The blue creature popped out of his lamp with all sorts of marching band instruments which he used to play a tune before asking again, "Hello?" It was then that he noticed what was on the floor, and he gasped as he stared at it.

"A barrel!" he cried happily, snatching the container up and hugging it close, dancing in his joy. "I've been visited by the Barrel Fairy!" Doing a spin, he exclaimed, "Thank you, Barrel Fairy! Thank you, wherever you are!" Looking inside the barrel, however, he was disappointed to see nothing in it. "Huh? Empty...aw, what a rip! Barrel Fairy brought me a bogus barrel?" He reached his hand as far into the wooden container as it would go. "Aw, there's gotta be something!" Feeling nothing, he shoved his head inside, shouting, "Barrel Fairy, don't forsake me now!"

And that's when the sand took it's cue, coiling around the Genie's ankles, preparing to swallow him whole, just as it had done to the others.

The door slammed open, and Aladdin, with his two animal friends in tow, screamed, "Genie!"

But it was too late, and Genie was sucked into the tar-like puddle of blackness, leaving only the barrel behind, which was caught by Aladdin, standing at the edge of the gooey substance. "Genie?" he asked, frightened that his friend might already have been lost.

The puddle once again came to life, swirling upwards at least several inches above the floor. "It's digesting?" Iago wondered, only to correct himself as Genie rose up through the goop, "It's regurgitating!"

"You're okay!" Aladdin exclaimed, before laying a hand on his friend's chest, questioning, "Genie? Are you hurt? Say something."

Imagine the youth's surprise when he found himself slammed into a wall on the opposite side of the room.

"It's that moody thing again!" Iago shouted, wings on his head, before turning to Abu and observing, "The sand does it to them!"

Shaking off the effects of his head-to-wall collision, Aladdin looked up to see Genie walking dutifully from the room, and jumped to his feet to follow him as Abu and Iago trailed close behind.

Moments later found them all plodding through the hall, and Iago wondering aloud, "What's the sand do to them?"

"I don't know," Aladdin admitted, allowing a little of his fear to creep into his voice.

"Razoul, Jasmine, Genie," the parrot counted off on his feathers, "it's like their brains have been sucked right out of their heads!"

Peeking around column, Aladdin gasped, seeing both Jasmine and Genie in the hall now, and replied to the bird, "I hope that's not the case."

"Uh, I also have an evil twin theory," Iago added, as if Aladdin were interested at all.

"Let's find out what's going on," the youth decided, and marched forward after the nearly zombified versions of his girl and best friends.

The two had led them to just outside a staircase in one of the lower levels of the palace, a suspicious area for sure. "What are they doing in Jafar's room?" Aladdin wondered quietly aloud before looking in through the conveniently cracked open door.

"Our grand deception is going splendidly, my sleepy-eyed supporters!"

Aladdin would recognize that voice anywhere, but just to be sure, he widened the door a bit until his suspicions were confirmed. On the long, curving staircase within the room, just higher than Jasmine and Genie's current position stood Mozenrath, looking as regal and powerful as ever. "Aha!" Aladdin whispered to his friends. "Just as I thought: where there's black sand, there's Mozenrath." True enough. It was his calling card, and was in his royal title, after all. 'Lord of the _Black Sands_ ', and all that.

"So what're you gonna do? Bust in there and stop 'im?" wondered Iago.

"No," Aladdin decided. "Jasmine may be in danger. We can't let him know we're onto him."

Just then Xerxes poked his head out of the doorway, having thought he heard something. Since the trio had hidden themselves behind the door at the last minute, though, he saw nothing and the eel flew suspiciously back into the room.

"We must continue the ruse until the Sultan is captured," Mozenrath's voice floated from the room again, and inside, he handed another barrel to his illusion of the princess, with the words, "And you are the one who can get close enough to him to accomplish that. Now go, take him!" Had Aladdin, Iago, or Abu been looking directly at Mozenrath at that moment, the momentary flash of red in his eyes would have undoubtedly sent chills down their spines.

As it was, they moved back to behind the door as Jasmine, or whatever was passing as her, exited the room with the barrel.

"Ooh," Iago winced, "poor Sultan's next."

"Not if I can help it," decided Aladdin.

 

* * *

 

Jasmine walked down the hall quietly, her eyes and face completely blank, when Aladdin sprung up beside her. "Hey, Jas," he grabbed a hold of the container in her arms, "what's in the barrel?"

Snatching it back from him, she scowled before continuing on towards the throne room.

"Jasmine," Aladdin grabbed at her arm, "I really think we should talk—" he stopped himself at the snap he heard, and looking down at his hand, he saw that Jasmine's arm had broken completely off. Only it wasn't really Jasmine's arm anymore: it was a Mamluk's!

Fitting enough, it seemed, as Jasmine had now transformed into a Mamluk herself, or now that she was male, _him_ self.

Iago groaned in disgust as Aladdin dropped the detached arm to the floor, and the Mamluk, mildly annoyed at best, grumbled and picked up his arm, reattaching it with ease and plodding off on his course, once again under the guise of the much smaller-framed Princess Jasmine.

"Wow..." Iago muttered. "Beauty _is_ only skin-deep."

"It's not Jasmine," corrected Aladdin, "Mozenrath replaced her with a Mamluk! Which means the real Jasmine is trapped somewhere! But where?" As Aladdin was engaging in his rare past-time of thinking, he almost didn't notice that Abu had climbed up onto his shoulder and was screeching wildly, pointing behind him at an approaching shadow.

Iago didn't miss the footsteps, though, and looking behind them, he tapped Aladdin's leg with his wing. "Uh, Al? Big blue zombie at twelve o' clock!"

This finally caught the streetrat's attention, and he turned to see the unusually somber version of 'Genie' walking purposefully towards them.

As the three of them backed away from the menacing creature, Iago tried, "I want to speak to Genie! The real Genie, deep inside!"

Leaping out of the way as 'Genie's' large fist slammed into the ground where they had been, Aladdin explained, "Iago, it's a Mamluk, too. There is no 'Genie deep inside'." This was made abundantly clear as it's blue fist punched the column they had been standing against, and they were forced to dodge to the opposite side of the structure. Darting around to the other side again with a vase in his hands as 'Genie's' back was turned Aladdin proclaimed, "Which means I don't have to worry about hurting him!" And with that, the vase, most likely some sort of priceless heirloom of the Sultan's, was smashed over the creature's head.

And the action paid off with...the Mamluk Genie growling and turning to face Aladdin and pets, attention having been garnered by the blow.

"What about him hurting us?" Iago squeaked fearfully, gasping as Aladdin was caught around the middle by the Mamluk's iron grip.

Abu, eager to defend his master, put up his dukes, so to speak, and looked ready for a fight.

"No, Abu, stop Jasmine!" Aladdin instructed, "Don't let her get to Sultan!"

"Good idea," interjected Iago, "girls don't hit quite so hard!" And the two animals were off down the hallway chasing after Jasmine. Or, they were, at least, until their consciences seemed to hit them at the same time and they stopped, turning back to Aladdin for reassurance.

"Go on!" he shouted, "Save the Sultan!"

 

* * *

 

The Sultan himself knelt on the floor of his throne room, humming a carefree tune as he righted a continuously tipping golden elephant from his miniature pyramid of said elephants.

A pyramid which collapsed when he noticed with a start that his daughter now stood in front of him. "Oh, Jasmine, you startled me! I didn't hear you come in!"

'Jasmine' made no other motion while her father turned and placed his toys away other than to remove the stopper of the barrel, allowing the tendrils of black sand to pour freely out.

 

* * *

 

Aladdin grunted, struggling against the hold of 'Genie' who was now carrying him in some other direction. Needless to say, he didn't want to go where _it_ wanted to go.

"We can't just leave Al..." Iago muttered to Abu, the two of them still not having left to stop the Sultan's imminent capture. At the monkey's blank stare for a reply, the parrot pushed him towards Aladdin and 'Genie', exclaiming, "Go on, help him!"

Abu, not entirely sure of how much good _he_ could do for his friend, nonetheless jumped on 'Genie's' back, trying to distract him.

The effort became unneeded when, out of the blue, Carpet came upon the scene. Loyalty lying strictly with Aladdin, he swiftly flew over and began tugging on 'Genie's' arm with his tassels in an attempt to force him to release Aladdin.

Iago, having decided to fly into the fray himself, clutched 'Genie's' hair in his talons. "Here's a little trick called the Mongolian Hair Pull!" And with a swift yank, the parrot found himself flying above 'Genie's' body, now in it's true form along with the severed Mamluk head in Iago's grasp. "Aah! Gross!" he screeched, dropping the frowning skull to the floor in disgust.

The body, now without a head, released Aladdin and Carpet, Abu, and Iago all simultaneously backed away from the headless corpse.

"Whew," Aladdin sighed, relieved, "thanks guys." The streetrat then, for some inexplicable reason, walked up to the headless Mamluk to inspect it more closely.

This became an obviously bad idea only moments later when the large thing took a swing at him, despite not having eyes to know what it was swinging at.

The blow was dodged by Aladdin, but the arm instead caught Abu in a firm grip, and the monkey let out a screech somewhere in between fear and pain.

"Excuse me," Aladdin tapped the undead's shoulder, "you've got a loose thread back there." Grabbing hold of the loose thread, the streetrat pulled on it, causing the entire stitchwork of it's right arm to come free.

It was an _extremely_ lucky coincidence that as the Mamluk turned to rid itself of Aladdin's nuisance, that every other stitch on it's body somehow came loose as well, causing the entire entity to fall to pieces, and Abu consequentially escaped as the disembodied arm hit the floor.

Of course, the primate wasn't prepared for the shock as a hand continued moving and tried to skitter after him, but he quickly came to terms with it and the hand was promptly kicked away by the small creature.

Abu's laughing at the hand was cut off when Aladdin's hand grabbed his tail and pulled him onto Carpet, the four of them flying down the halls at top speed. "There's no time to lose!"

 

* * *

 

"Jasmine," the Sultan spoke to his daughter, who at the moment was leading him blindfolded to...somewhere, "I really don't understand the point of this game. And you're so quiet. Is there something troubling you? Aah!" The man screamed as his next step was into what was assuredly _not_ marble flooring, and was some sort of strange, gooey substance.

Thankfully for him, however, just before he went under, Aladdin managed to snatch up his hand and pull him from the muck with the words, "Gotcha!"

Still partially submerged, the Sultan tore off his blindfold and questioned, confused, "Aladdin, what's going on?"

"There's no time to explain right now!" the streetrat insisted, trying even harder to free his future father-in-law from the almost magnetic glue.

"Al, look out!" warned Iago before fleeing from Aladdin's shoulder as 'Jasmine' charged at him.

The warning did little good, as Aladdin was thrown off of Carpet and onto the floor, leaving the Sultan to sink into the murky depths of sand. Luckily, though, Abu, still close-by, managed to grab his hand while Iago held his tail and Carpet's tassels supported all three of them.

Meanwhile, Aladdin and 'Jasmine' were now wrestling on the ground only feet away from the perilous puddle of doom. 'Jasmine' had taken an early lead, but Aladdin countered by flipping her off of him with a kick. This didn't deter 'her' for long, though, and 'she' immediately tackled him again.

The three sidekicks, with monumental effort on their part, managed to free the Sultan entirely with a good, hard pull, and the man flopped onto the floor, covered in black goop to bewilderedly watch the fight. "Jasmine, Aladdin, why are you fighting?!"

Aladdin, ignoring the Sultan for the moment, engaged in far more pressing matters, grabbed 'Jasmine's' throat and pushed 'her' to the ground with himself on top of 'her', to which 'she' quickly kicked him off with a knee to the face.

 

* * *

 

"Agrabah's so clean and wholesome," Mozenrath decided to his familiar as the two of them approached the throne room, "I'm really _loving_ darkening it's door."

"Dark door, dark door!" Xerxes quickly agreed with his master, excited at the prospect of so much new territory under their control. Agrabah was one of the last main strongholds of the Seven Deserts; once such a vast land was taken out of the picture, the only two remaining deserts not yet under Mozenrath's control, Quirkistan and Ghetsistan, would fall just that much quicker.

The young sorcerer froze with a gasp at the sight that lay in the middle of the hallway. "What's this?"

"Mamluk pieces," observed Xerxes, and anyone who knew Mamluks knew what Mamluk _pieces_ meant, especially when found in Agrabah...

"Aladdin," deduced Mozenrath.

 

* * *

 

"Go, Al, go!" Iago cheered for his friend, "Remember, it's not Jasmine, it's a Mamluk!"

Aladdin, regardless of the spirited enthusiasm in his abilities, soon found himself shoved up against the window ledge and then pushed halfway out, with his head facing the ground and 'Jasmine' holding his legs. From his vantage point, he could see that if, more likely _when_ , he was dropped, he would be landing in a large puddle of black sand, meaning that this would be game over. Thinking quickly, he reached up and grabbed the narrow window ledge just as 'Jasmine' pushed the rest of him out the window and turned to walk away.

Righting himself, he reached in the window and grabbed 'Jasmine's' arm and maneuvered their positions to the reverse before forcing 'her' to meet the fate 'she' had just intended for him.

This clearly did not sit well with the Sultan.

"No!" the man screamed, seeing his daughter shoved out of the window and he ran over as fast as he could, ignoring Aladdin's cry of, 'Sultan, wait!' "Jasmine!" he shouted, relieved to see her clinging to the window ledge as Aladdin had done.

Imagine his surprise as 'she' grabbed him and pulled him outside as well before letting go of the ledge, sending the two of them into a free-fall directly into the black sand.

"No," Aladdin cried as he just barely missed the Sultan's hand this time, and 'Jasmine' and her father fell into the black tar with a large splash. "Sultan!"

"Heheheheheh," Xerxes chuckled, hovering just above the sand pit and curling happily in the air. "Black, sand, black sand!" He then flew off to inform his master of the good news.

Aladdin, not having seen the eel from his height, moved back inside and away from the window. "I'm going after Sultan," he told Carpet, Iago, and Abu. "Carpet, find me a chain, a rope, something." The rug quickly flew off to comply to the demands, even as the streetrat called after him, "Something long!"

"Going after Sultan?" Iago asked, perplexed, as he perched on Aladdin's shoulder. "How? Where?"

"Into the sand," he solemnly answered, before footsteps suddenly caught his attention.

"Aladdin, I applaud you!" Mozenrath declared, indeed clapping for the youth. "Truly one for the textbooks." The sorcerer was flanked by the palace guards on either side of him as he casually entered the throne room. "Except for the end there," he corrected, "when you _lost_ the Sultan. Still, an A for effort, friend, an A for effort."

Abu and Iago quickly scampered behind a column, still gun-shy from their last one-on-one with the young lord, even as a snarling Aladdin was caught by Razoul and another guard as he lunged at Mozenrath. "Don't call me 'friend'!" Having made his point, he struggled viciously in the guards' grips, grunting, "Let...go!"

"Easy now, _muscles,_ "the sorcerer mocked, only causing the streetrat's struggles to intensify, "don't make them use force." Mozenrath then turned his back on his captive, walking casually towards the middle of the room.

"Sultan captured!" Xerxes gleefully exclaimed, flying in through the window to his master's side.

"Excellent, Xerxes," he complimented his familiar, grinning as the statement prompted another reaction from Aladdin.

"You! What have you done with them?!" the youth demanded trying desperately to pull free from the guard's hold on him.

"You're about to find out," Mozenrath assured, turning to face Aladdin and allowing him to see the handful of black sand he held, "firsthand..." Blowing lightly on the grainy substance, the sorcerer coursed his magic through it, and the tendrils of sand immediately reached out and spread to the ground to form the same kind of puddle as the others around the palace.

Abruptly, the young lord turned and walked over to the throne, taking it as his own. "Getting in was the easy part," he informed Aladdin from his new vantage point. He laughed a bit as he added, "Your so-called guards were more like escorts. In fact," he yawned for emphasis on the ease with which he had accomplished this, "now that I've won, there's no need to keep up appearances."

The snap of gloved fingers dissipated all illusionary magic in the room, and the guards immediately shifted into Mamluk warriors. At least two solid feet were added onto them as they changed back to their inhuman forms, and as Mozenrath stood and walked from the throne, he was now proud to boast that he was only a mere foot shorter than them; briefly, he wondered how those in his old life would take his new height, probably taller than the majority of them, but this was quickly dismissed as he realized now was not the time for reminiscing. "The deception is over," he declared, "Agrabah is mine to rule. I've made prisoners of the royal family." He then decided to provoke Aladdin just a bit, and added, "Princess Jasmine, of course, made for such a delightful victim! When she was swallowed by the sand, she gave out the most...bloodcurdling scream!" Seeing Aladdin's struggles renewed tenfold, he laughed before mocking, "She's so cute!"

Getting some measure of control over himself, Aladdin declared, "You made one mistake, Mozenrath."

"Really? A mistake? Oh, what would that be? Tell me _please_!" Sometimes, Mozenrath thought to himself, sarcasm had ceased to be an attitude for him, and far much more of a lifestyle.

"You saved me for last!" the streetrat shouted, breaking free of the Mamluks' hold and charging at his foe.

Having immediately switched back to a serious mood, Mozenrath sent a blast of black and blue fire at Aladdin, pushing the youth back and holding him in midair above the pit of sand. Now that that had been taken care of, his more playful and sarcastic side emerged once again. "I meant to; you're so much fun to gloat to!"

Xerxes, who had flown up to Aladdin's level augmented his master. "Gloat, gloat!"

"Well, it's time for goodbye, Aladdin," Mozenrath sighed, as if lamenting.

"Bye-bye!" the sorcerer's familiar spoke to the streetrat before returning faithfully to his master.

"Assure Sultan that my Mamluks _love_ the royal decor. Oh, and my fond regards to the princess." He smirked that, even though it almost made him sick to think of himself and that royal brat together, the statement managed to enrage Aladdin even further.

"Fond regards, fond regards!" Xerxes then clarified the meaning his master's statement, as if it weren't already obvious, by blowing a kiss in a random direction with his fin.

Before Aladdin's head could explode from his anger, which, Mozenrath admitted, would have been an amusing sight, the sorcerer released the magic holding the streetrat above the puddle, causing him to plummet straight into the tar-like goo.

With a satisfied chuckle, Mozenrath walked off towards the balcony overlooking the main city of Agrabah as the Mamluks and his familiar followed, complimenting, "You punctuated my moment beautifully, Xerxes."

Grateful at the praise, the eel brushed himself appreciatively against his master before joining him to get a better idea of what would very soon be a new Mamluk city.

"Al..." Iago bowed his head in reverence for his friend, "I'll miss his two-fisted antics." Noticing Abu looking at him with a scowl, he shouted defensively, "What?! What can I do?"

The answer to the question became irrelevant as Carpet then returned, a rope in tow, and quickly realizing the situation, he tied one end around the column by which Abu and Iago stood and the other end around himself and dove into the black sand after his friend.

While Abu cheered for the rug's action, Iago scoffed, "Huh. Well, I was just gonna do that." The monkey gave him a disbelieving look. "I swear!"

 

* * *

 

"Where is this place?" Jasmine wondered aloud, looking around the dark surroundings that were comprised entirely of black sand. The tar-like blackness of the ground held herself, her father, and the guards fast to the floor. "It's so strange."

Attempting briefly to tug his leg free of the goop, Razoul sighed, "Some royal guardsman _I_ am. Tricked by a flying simpleton eel!"

"It couldn't be helped," Jasmine assured the man, "Who knew Mozenrath was up to something?"

It seemed like a relatively simple thing to figure out. As far as thought processes go, black sand led to the Land of the Black Sands, and the Land of the Black Sands led to the Lord of the Black Sands. The Lord of the Black Sands was Mozenrath, and Mozenrath was evil. Those who are evil often have evil plans. And all of this should, within moments of thinking, lead one to the conclusion, "Mozenrath has an evil plan."

Regardless, the entire group then turned to see Geine pop out of the sand fully decked out in scuba gear. "Here's the plan," he announced after pulling his goggles off, "we get out the same way we got in!"

At Genie's announcement, Jasmine questioned eagerly, "Did you see anything?"

"Goo," Genie answered flatly, "tons of it."

"My kingdom," muttered Sultan, "my...my people, under Mozenrath's evil rule!" Well, if Mozenrath had any say it in, they wouldn't exactly be _people_ for much longer...

"Don't worry," Genie insisted, "there's hope while Al's out there stomping Mamluks!"

Just then, a large bubble formed at the surface, and it popped to reveal Aladdin, coughing the sand from his lungs.

"Aladdin!" Jasmine exclaimed, happy to see him, but not as happy to see him _here_.

Grunting as he fought against the hold of the sand on his ankles, Aladdin asked, "How do we get out of here?"

The grey-skinned guard crossed his arms over his chest and scoffed, "So much for our hope."

"Don't worry," Genie once again insisted, "there's still Carpet, Abu, and Iago!"

Another bubble came up, this one containing Carpet.

"Oh, let's face it," Genie whimpered, "we're doomed!" Carpet, however, then reached into the ground and pulled out the rope, to which Genie immediately perked up and hugged his friend, kissing him several times in joy. "I think that I shall never hug a friend I love more than this rug!" The only issue with the hugging, it seemed, was that Genie's face stuck to Carpet, courtesy of the black sand. "Uh...little help?"

 

* * *

 

"I don't like this..." Iago whispered to Abu, "You know, if they don't come back, you're gonna have to save the day." Abu squeaked in protest, absolutely terrified at the prospect. "Coward. Al would do it for you!"

"What this, what this?! Rope!" Xerxes realized. Knowing that this could be a _huge_ threat to their plan, the eel immediately went to call for his master. "Mozenra-mph!"

Abu had jumped out from behind the column, at his avian friend's insistence, and silenced the eel with a tackle, and now that they had hit the ground, the two fought against each other; Xerxes against the monkey restraining him from doing his duty as Mozenrath's familiar, and Abu against this wriggling creature that would gladly see harm done to his friends.

Iago, on the other hand, decided to do his part by keeping Mozenrath himself distracted to buy Carpet and Abu more time.

Hearing the approach of wings from behind him, the young lord turned to face the parrot even as it landed on his shoulder.

"Mozenrath, bubby! Can we talk?" To this, the sorcerer raised an eyebrow, internally shocked at the bird's sudden boldness to so openly declare his presence. "You seem like a guy who's going places, a real renaissance wizard! I could, you know...be your sidekick! That freaky eel doesn't do anything for your image, trust me! What you need is a parrot!" Mozenrath scowled, displeased at such blatant mockery of his familiar. _Besides,_ one of the innermost parts of him thought, _Xerxes fits with my color scheme much better than the parrot! Red and yellow with black and dark blue? Yeah, no, they aren't even in the same color spectrum with each other_!

In the other room, Xerxes managed to get his mouth free for the most part, and now his hisses and snarls could be heard.

"What was that?!" Mozenrath gasped, turning his attention to the noise, only to be pulled back to focus on the parrot.

"Uh, I've got great sidekick credentials!" the bird insisted. Xerxes paused from the throne room, catching sight of Iago's attempt to take his position, and he renewed his fight against Abu, hoping to free himself of the monkey and show the bird what happened to those who tried to take his place. "You ever hear of Jafar, you know, tall guy, kinda snakey?"

Mozernath recognized all of this as an attempt to keep him busy, and he shoved Iago aside with the words, "Get out of my way!" Reentering the throne room, the sorcerer was spotted by Abu who screeched in terror, giving Xerxes the opportunity to bat the nuisance away with his tail and into a wall, and the eel flew loyally to Mozenrath's side. It didn't take more than a few seconds for the young lord to realize the source of all the trouble, and he knelt by the black puddle of sand near the rope. "Oh, some people don't know when to give up."

Suddenly, though, a large blue hand emerge from the goop and pushed Mozenrath face-down in the sand, before flicking him across the marble floor and into a column, where he then fell flat on his back to get his bearings and make sure all of his teeth were intact. _Oh, god, why would you_ _ **do**_ _that?! What's wrong with you?!_ , his innerself screamed at the genie, _That's, like, the_ _ **one**_ _thing you don't do to people, dammit! Do you know how much it would cost in dental work, or hospital bills for cracked skulls, concussions, and broken noses for that matter, if people did that kind of thing will-nilly?! And_ _ **you're**_ _on the good side?!_

Genie himself then emerged from the sludge, countering the sorcerer's earlier statement, "And some people just don't know when to _shut_ up!" Remembering the others, he rapidly pulled up the rope and soon enough an elevator took his place. As the door opened with a ping, all those who had been lost in the black sand inside, genie stood to the side dressed as an elevator doorman. "Sixth floor, evil wizards, wacky slugfests, and happy endings, everybody off."

Aladdin ran from the elevator, getting a running start to leap on and tackle a nearby Mamluk to the ground and thus to pieces, Carpet following his lead by swooping under the next closest undead and then flipping it off of him and to the ground.

Razoul had his hands full with a Mamluk as well, and was being swung around by one until he managed to shove it away from him, and from there, it tripped over the chubby guard who had been on his hands and knees behind him.

Aladdin took the initiative to go after another Mamluk, then, and as it held onto his arms, he put his foot on its chest and swung it behind him with the words, "Let go!" This had, mostly, the desired effect, as the Mamluk was no longer holding him, but it arms remained in Aladdin's hands, and he paused to look at them for a moment. "Eugh, I'm never getting used to this..." he muttered, throwing the severed arms in another direction.

"This isn't over yet, simps!" Mozenrath got back to his feet, still feeling slightly dizzy from the impact against the column. Maybe he actually _did_ have a concussion...but medical condition or no, Aladdin was a far more pressing matter at the moment, and if he was going down, it wouldn't be without a fight!

Of course, wouldn't you know it that just as he sent a blast of magical fire at Aladdin and the guards, the genie showed up, dressed as a pretty-boy holding a mirror, with which, after looking at himself and saying, "Hey, handsome!" he used to deflect the blast right back at the sorcerer?

The blast was a powerful one, and barely dodging being hit with it and almost instantly killed, Mozenrath found himself barely holding on to the ledge of the gigantic hole it made in the wall. Genie, from the sidelines, found the fact that he was hanging on for dear life amusing, and in referee gear exclaimed, "Game point!"

Aladdin, do-gooder as he was, immediately ran to the ledge and reached out to Mozenrath. "Take my hand."

The sorcerer paused before taking the other's arm. "I'd much rather..." he pulled the streetrat closer, "take your life!"

Mozenrath pulled hard on Aladdin's arm, but before he could be dragged down as well, he dropped the young lord and grabbed his Gauntlet just as a magical blast was sent out, and the glove slid free of the sorcerer and into the youth's hand.

The young lord, however, fell several feet before catching himself on another ledge, _just_ barely, with his human hand. The sheer depression that set in upon seeing his ungloved skeletal hand again (he never really enjoyed remembering that that was all that was left of his right hand) was enough for him to quietly whisper, "No..." in the belief that his foe had seen one of his greatest shames before his grasp on the stone of the palace slipped, and he plummeted towards the black sand puddle on the ground with an enraged scream of, "Aladdin!" He wouldn't die from impact since his sand was there, but falling into it would mean that the battle was over and that he had lost. This displeased Mozenrath very much.

Coming to a sudden stop just above the sand, Mozenrath looked up and saw Xerxes, jaw locked tightly around his cape and holding him up. "Yes, Xerxes!" he gasped, happy not to have to fall into the tar at least, "Good toady!"

Of course, karma had a way of hating him at his luckiest moments, it seemed, as his cape tore and he ended up falling the short drop into the puddle of sand anyways.

Xerxes spit the black scrap of cloth out of his mouth and, knowing it was up to him to leave the final words to Aladdin and friends, turning towards the huge hole in the wall where they were all looking out shouted, "We'll return, Aladdin, we'll return! Don't think we won't! We will return! Agh!"

A safe had fallen from above, landing directly on top of Xerxes and causing both the eel and the object to fall into the puddle with a splash.

"I had a spare safe lying around!" Genie spoke casually, as if he didn't potentially kill a small animal. "What was I to do with it?"

 

* * *

 

Xerxes's tail twitched as consciousness flooded back to him after only a minute or two of being in the magic-created place inside the sand. The first thought to come to his mind was, "Ow." The second was, "Stupid genie!" Despite the throbbing of his skull, he knew he should find his master first and foremost, and so he swam out of and away from the black sand that held him down and to Mozenrath, who was merely a few feet away from him.

"Xerxes," the sorcerer spoke, concern evident in his voice when he saw the dizzy sway in the eel's flight pattern, "are you all right?"

Finally having reached his master, the eel practically fell out of flight, plopping limply on the caped shoulders. "Genie...drop safe..."

"He hit you with a safe?!" At the pained nod from his familiar, which the eel regretted almost immediately when it felt like his brain was being slammed against his skull, Mozenrath growled. " _That_ was too far..." Simple logic told the sorcerer that his familiar, who now came with skull-cracking headache action, was _not_ up for a fight so soon, and instead of declaring revenge just yet, he decided he'd rather make sure the eel wasn't in life-threatening danger. "Hm, I suppose we can't just go back up there and give them a piece of our minds after all that. Can you imagine how awkward _that_ would be?"

Xerxes snickered at the joke and nuzzled his master's neck affectionately, which essentially told Mozenrath that the small creature was feeling well enough to appreciate a joke and from that, not in any danger of dying just yet.

"What do you say we go home then, eh, Xerxes?" the sorcerer suggested.

Knowing _far_ better than to nod again, the eel grunted affirmatively, and within the space of a second the two of them were back in the Land of the Black Sands, in the master bedroom to be exact.

Xerxes flew towards the bed and curled himself atop Scirocco's fluffy body, who had fallen into such a deep sleep hours ago that he wasn't disturbed by any movement, and the eel was almost instantly asleep as well.

Mozenrath stood only a bit away as he observed the scene. His familiar and his loyal pet, asleep together on his bed. The sight was so...dare he say it?...cute. He had thought the ability to feel about such things had been crushed out of him _years_ ago, but here he was, basking in an almost family moment.

_Family?_

Yes, these two were the closest thing he had to a family, weren't they?

 _Ha_ , his inner-self laughed, _if someone had told me four years ago that by the time I was eighteen, my family would consist of a mutated, flying eel_ _and a wind jackal I would've asked what the hell kind of crack they were smoking!_

But they _were_ his family...they were the only people... _living beings_ , anyway, that he really had in his life at this point, excluding any enemies.

Laying beside Scirocco and Xerxes, however, he decided that, at least for the moment, he was glad of it.


	10. Chapter 10

Mozenrath was _not_ happy, _not_ happy at all.

Just _thinking_ about...it was infuriating!

 

* * *

 

_"This is no time for idle hanging around, Amin."_

_The self-proclaimed 'greatest thief in Agrabah' dangled from chains over a pit of crocodiles in the palace dungeon. Mozenrath had hired him for this job months ago and despite Amin's relative incompetence, things had been going well...until now. "Mozenrath, heh, the magic dust turned the Sultan to gold, just as you said it would; you the man."_

_The sorcerer frowned through the communication portal, irritated at the lack of seriousness he was receiving from the thief. "I'm disappointed in you, Amin." he chastised, partially sarcastic before making a quick return to his earlier agitation, "We agreed that if I provided the magic, you'd do the footwork!" The young lord stood from his throne, unable to force his body into total compliance of his mind. Why on earth had he hired this fool? It was taking all of his mind's restraint to not simply allow the rest of him to apparate to Amin's location and strangle the idiot himself!_

_...Oh, yeah, 'cause Aladdin wouldn't expect such a move. Still, Mozenrath was beginning to wonder if this whole thing was truly worth the stress on his already questionable sanity._

_"Aah!" Amin shrieked as a crocodile snapped at his legs, "I_ _**am** _ _doing the footwork!"_

 _"Oh, poor Amin," Mozenrath sighed, exasperated, "a **two-denarii** **thief** could have owned Agrabah by now with the bag of tricks I've given you!" He had been meaning to get rid of Destane's "apology gifts" for sometime now, and thankfully, the opportunity had arisen. Unfortunately, such an opportunity had come with the headache that was known as Amin. "But," he added on second thought, "it _ _**has** _ _been amusing to watch you fail."_

_Xerxes snickered from just next to his master. "Watch you fail!"_

_Seeing the eel's sharp fangs bared in a grin, Amin made a frightened noise. "Just a little more time and I'll prove my worth to you! Really!" he insisted to his current employer._

_"You've got two tricks left," Mozenrath reminded the other, "Retrieve the statue," it had been lost to the heros when Amin had been captured, "and I will make you the most respected thief of the Seven Deserts! Fail..." he grinned maliciously, "and you will spend the rest of your life repaying me for my_ _**kindness** _ _. Win-win for me, win-_ _**lose** _ _for you!"_

_"Amin loses," Xerxes scoffed as the portal was closed, leaving the thief to his own devices._

_"I believe that would be an improvement , Xerxes," the sorcerer sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose hoping to alleviate the oncoming migraine somewhat. "At least this fiasco would be done with. Although, it would be in our favor if he succeeds; the Sultan would make an excellent ransom for the kingdom of Agrabah, wouldn't you say so?"_

_The eel nodded eagerly, brushing up against his master's left hand, which he was then pleased to have petting him._

* * *

Of course, it _didn't_ work out in their favor, as Amin used one of his gifts to transform into a griffin, the toenail shavings of which undid the spell that held the Sultan as a small golden figurine.

Needless to say, Amin was then quickly locked up in a dungeon again, this one belonging to Mozenrath. At least he was more useful now, his life-energy being slowly drained from him to fuel the Gauntlet. By the time the thief was completely dead, the young lord will have been able to use his magic freely, with no consequence to his own body, for several months. That may not seem like very much, but a few months without the strain of using magic could mean up to _5_ _years_ added onto his life.

 _"Oh, yes,_ _ **that,**_ _"_ Mozenrath thought to himself, _"My fading mortality...that certainly puts a positive spin on things, now doesn't it?"_

He had been feeling the detractions of the Gauntlet the minute he had first put it on, but he hadn't cared what it was doing to him, not even the skeletal arm if power was the gain of the price. But now, his life seemed to be fading faster, not by much but _enough_ , enough to give him cause to truly think about things.

If he would be dying naturally before he was thirty, he was going to conquer the Seven Deserts before he did so, and Aladdin would fall at his feet. The more he thought about it, it should be done with enough time for him to enjoy the victory for more than a year or two, and honestly, with all _that_ out of the way, the odds were good, with his intelligence and the magic at his disposal, that he could be able to find a method to stop his impending death entirely. Until then, he could simply use people like Amin to delay it, so really, the two main goals were more about the principle of the thing than because of limited time. So then, conquering the deserts and killing Aladdin seemed logically achievable, yes, but they were so intertwined at this point that one could not be done without the other, and so until Aladdin was taken out of the picture, Agrabah would continue to cause him issues as far as military conquest went.

The problem was, Aladdin just didn't seem to want to die, and that was putting a damper on things indefinitely.

 

* * *

 

 _"You've been_ _ **very**_ _helpful, Aladdin,"_ _Mozenrath thanked the streetrat, "I must repay you."_ _Raising his arm, he fired a blast of magical energy towards the youth._

_Aladdin quickly dodged off to the side, the small pink sprite, who apparently had known him from somewhere else and was currently with him, following just as fast, if not faster. This left the blast to land harmlessly against the metal half-globe in the sand. Or so they thought..._

_They were in the abandoned kingdom of Shemosh, a supposed sun-lord in life. Mozenrath had come to this particular area in search of what was known as "The Power of Shemosh," and after an hour or so of using energetic pixies to dig up the desert in search of it to no avail, who should stumble upon the scene but Aladdin, apparently called there by his pixie friends? The young lord actually_ _**was** _ _grateful to the streetrat in a sense, because without him, he, as much as he hated to admit it, would have spent several_ _**more** _ _hours in the desert figuring out the clues to it's location. Luckily for him, Aladdin had discovered it by accident and had led him directly to the desired object._

_"Pretty sad shot, Mozenrath!" Aladdin taunted at the 'miss' of what he thought to be the blasts intended target, himself._

_"Depends on where I was aiming," Mozenrath countered with a chuckle, watching the streetrat jump as he realized that the metallic object was rising from the sand behind him._

_It looked to be a large sphere with a picture of a sun engraved into it, the trademark of Shemosh, and Mozenrath grinned at the sight of the sun-lord's famed power._

_The sphere rose higher and higher in the sky, propelled by the sorcerer's dark magic. Suddenly though, Aladdin saw, it stopped, and got extremely bright, taking on a fire and life of it's own._

_"I guess this clears up the Shemosh power mystery," he quipped, shielding his eyes from the light and the intense_ _**heat** _ _caused by the new miniature sun._

_"The raging inferno of his own personal sun," Genie thought aloud, putting on a pair of sunglasses for all the help they did. "Yep, that's power."_

_"And it's all_ _**mine** ,_ _" declared Mozenrath, the sadistic gleam of red flashing quickly in his eyes. "But no one will feel the power of Shemosh more than you, Aladdin." A quick blast of magic to the sun, and it rushed towards the ground, leaving Genie, Abu, and Iago to flee on their own while Aladdin hopped on Carpet and began an escape attempt from the seemingly living inferno._

_"Faster, Carpet!" Aladdin urged, frantic to avoid a fiery death._

_"Fry him!" Xerxes urged, excited to see Aladdin's fiery death._

_Mozenrath complied to his familiar's suggestion, propelling the sun just a_ _**bit** _ _faster to catch up with the streetrat and his rug, and despite an effort of restraint, malicious laughter tore itself from the sorcerer's throat as he saw Carpet catch fire, and plummet to the ground._

_The dust cleared from the fall, and Aladdin lay motionlessly on the ground, unconscious, with a scorched-on-one-end Carpet draped over him._

_Abu and Iago ran over to him as quickly as possible to make sure their friend was alright. Abu's attempts to wake the streetrat failed, but a slight movement assured the animals that he was still alive. "Ooh," winced Iago, "lights out!"_

_"I can save Aladdin!" exclaimed the tiny pink pixie, zooming in the air above the parrot's head, "I can do it!"_

_"How cute," the bird commented back in a condescending tone of voice, "but if you hadn't noticed, that thing is hot!"_

_"We fly in the stars all the time," the pixie explained, "I've flown around the_ _**real** _ _sun!"_

_Genie reached down and picked the small creature up. "Just leave this to the big boys." Placing it back down again, the blue creature altered his size to an extremely high altitude, procuring an apron, chef's hat, and a spatula in the process. "Who's up for barbecue?" Raising the spatula like a bat, he swung at the fireball, intending to knock it away somewhere._

_Instead, though, a fiery burst sent him hurling backwards and into the ground, back to normal, except for his entire upper-half now colored a bright red. Raising his cloth belt to inspect the sunburn line, he squeaked out, "Great. Twelfth degree sunburn and right before yearbook pictures!"_

_Approaching Aladdin's unconscious form, Mozenrath remarked to his familiar, "Why, look, the boy is defenseless! If I attack now, he's_ — _"_

_"Dead meat!" Xerxes finished, reading his master's clearly sarcastic demeanor._

_"At last," the sorcerer grinned triumphantly, directing more magical blasts towards the sun to influence its trajectory._

_"Now what?!" Iago screeched at Genie, feeling totally hopeless._

_"Sunscreen, SPF 10 million," the blue and now red creature said, poofing a tube of sunblock into the one of the parrot's wings, and shaking the other, "good luck." After which, the genie promptly fainted._

_"That means it's down to me," decided Iago, puffing his chest out courageously, only to slap a hand on his forehead as several of the pixie creatures hovered around him, "and the sprites..."_

_With Abu and Carpet, Aladdin_ _**almost** _ _gained consciousness, only to flop back against the sand._

_"So," Iago asked, "you're in?"_

_The response was enthusiastic, and the leader, the pink one, shouted, "Sure!" to which the others immediately replied, "You bet!" and "Let's go!"_

_Mozenrath was on a power-high. "I will rule the Seven Deserts, and Aladdin will never...what?" The young lord blinked as he saw the sprites swirling around a stature of Shemosh, many of which had formed the main clue to lead to the sun in the first place, and hovering the thing towards Aladdin, now fully awake and cowering at the approaching fireball._

_The statue was dropped just in front of him, providing a shield as the sun itself sent out a blast of flame towards the streetrat._

_"No!" Mozenrath cried, shaking his head in something between a tantrum and disbelief. He was_ _**so** _ _close this time! "You can't escape!" he tried, attempting to coax Aladdin out from behind the stone._

_"Who said anything about escape?" the streetrat countered, "I'm gonna beat you, Mozenrath!"_

_"Drop the next one!" Iago instructed the sprites, hovering over another statue just to the left of the first one. "Now!"_

_And more fireblasts collided with this statue as Aladdin ran behind the new one, and so it continued on as the sprites kept dropping statues._

_"I'll get him yet," growled Mozenrath, "I'm_ _**so** _ _close!"_

_"Too close!" pointed out Xerxes, noticing what his master had overlooked in his sheer rage at Aladdin: the statues were being placed in a way that led the sun to get closer and closer to the one controlling it._

_Mozenrath, however, was_ _**far** _ _beyond caring about that, and merely pushed his familiar away, causing him to impact lightly in the sand._

_Xerxes, though, was feeling the heat, and jumped up, warning again, "Too hot! Too hot! We'll fry!"_

_Of course, this was Aladdin's moment to step from behind the statues, taunting, "Feeling the power of Shemosh?"_

_Recognizing the logic in his familiar's words, Mozenrath spun to face the streetrat and allowed his rage to control his body. A punch was thrown at Aladdin, caught by the youth's fist, even as the magic called to the glove by his emotions crackled around the Gauntlet. Realizing the danger in the sorcerer having_ _**any** _ _upper-ground, Aladdin flipped Mozenrath over his shoulder, where the young wizard landed on the ground. Snarling, he kicked at the streetrat's leg, toppling him as well, and they began the actual fight._

_After they managed to pick the fight up off the sand, it continued. Aladdin once again flipped Mozenrath to the ground, what appeared to be his favorite move. The sorcerer quickly got up and practically lunged for Aladdin, Gauntlet sparking and crackling with the desire to be used. Aladdin caught him by the arms again, though, and Mozenrath actually did use the Gauntlet, pushing the dark and deadly magic towards the streetrat, who obviously did his best to hold back the other's arm._

_Suddenly, though, Mozenrath's footing was completely gone, and before he quite knew what had happened, he found himself in a hole at least four or more feet deep with Aladdin above him, just as confused._

_Xerxes, who had been watching the fight with interest, was ready to help his master in whatever way he was able, at least until Abu grabbed him by the tail and slammed him into the ground roughly._

_The sprites made their move, swirling around...Mozenrath's Gauntlet! "No!" Not that, not his Gauntlet! He had given up_ _**so** _ _much for that power!_

_"Alright!" Aladdin exclaimed, to the sprites, "Now get rid of that sun!"_

_"Ahhh, done," Iago yawned leisurely, pointing as the winged creatures hurled the round object, flames extinguished from the wind, somewhere into deep space._

_"My sun!" whined Mozenrath. And he was_ _**so, so** _ _close, too! Aladdin always did this kind of thing! He_ _**always** _ _won at the last minute because of his stupid friends!_

_Psychotic rage soon took the place of mild depression, and he climbed from the pit he was in, making sure his exposed right arm was covered by his black cape, and growled at Aladdin, "My only goal now is to hear your tortured screams!"_

_The streetrat took what he must have thought was a fighting position, but actually looked like a monkey pose of some kind, and declared, "It's just us, man to man! What?" Aladdin froze, as his foe's cape blew aside with the wind, revealing the starch-white bones on his right arm._

_Realizing that his hand was in plain sight now and that there was no way around at least a brief explanation, he sighed, "Oh, my secret's out..."_

_Genie, Iago and Abu almost simultaneously said, "Eew..." upon getting a closer look at the appendage._

_"This is what_ _**I** _ _did for power," he explained, looking Aladdin straight in the eye. "The magic of a genie was handed to_ _**you** _ _on a silver platter, but I gave my right hand for power!" The streetrat moved back a step, frightened by the sorcerer's frequent and unpredictable mood-swings; maybe he was bipolar_ _**and** _ _generally psychotic. "To wear the Gauntlet is painful," the young lord admitted, and it was true, as it was an ever-constant dull ache in the bones of his arm, "but it's worth it. Worth it to destroy the likes of you!"_

_"Good luck with no magic glove!" the pink sprite spoke, flying up from somewhere else. "We buried it!"_

_"Somewhere out there!" a blue sprite gestured to the desert._

_"My Gauntlet?!" Oh, no, they_ _**hid** _ _my Gauntlet. In **sand**. Whatever shall I do?_

_"Better start digging," Aladdin joked, making the sprites giggle before they, in thanks for freeing them from Mozenrath's control, repaired Carpet's burnt away end._

_"Hmm..." Mozenrath thought to himself, "they're probably not going to leave without a show..."_

_"My Gauntlet!" the sorcerer cried in despair, dropping to his knees in the sand. "No! Dig, Xerxes, dig!" The eel, catching on, played along and began using his fins to scoop up sand while his master did the same._

_Aladdin and friends laughed uproariously again before flying off, and Mozenrath stopped what he knew was a totally infantile effort. "Are they out of sight yet, Xerxes?"_

_"Out of sight!" the eel happily declared._

_"Good." Mozenrath then drew his left hand to the front of him, for the first time in a long while, generating magic entirely on his own. When the familiar black and blue glow enveloped his hand completely, he forced his hand deep into the ground, merely staring with a detached sense of accomplishment as the grains of sand turned black from the point where his hand touched it, and soon enough, the entire desert once belonging to Shemosh had officially been declared part of the Land of the Black Sands._

_And who could navigate through the actual sand of said lands better than a Mamluk?_

_Snapping his fingers, Mozenrath summoned as many Mamluks as he could possible spare to him, and it wasn't long before over one hundred thousand or so of them stood before him. "Your orders are simple: my Gauntlet has been buried somewhere in this desert. Find it and bring it to me."_

_Each and every undead grunted in the affirmative before sinking into the sand to complete their new task._

_Xerxes, noticing the blank look on his master's face, flew up and curled around his shoulders, nudging the sorcerer's cheek with his tail. "Master alright?"_

_"Oh, Xerxes," Mozenrath sighed, "I'm just...tired of this. I'm sick of losing. If I wanted to lose all the time, I could've stayed back home."_

_The eel growled softly, swimming in front of the young lord's face. "Master not go back! Master stay here!"_

_A ghost of a smile twitched the nineteen year olds lips...was he really nineteen already? He felt a lot older. "I won't leave Xerxes. I've got much more for me here than I_ _**ever** _ _did there."_

_"Promise," the eel insisted, "promise master stay!"_

_In a gesture of absolute trust, Mozenrath curled his skeleton hand around the flying creature, petting him with bony white fingers. "I promise, Xerxes. I won't leave."_

_Satisfied, Xerxes gave a growling purr, and nuzzled his master gently in thanks._

* * *

And so another plan was failed, and even though Xerxes got the promise to stay in the Seven Deserts from his master, Mozenrath was still short one dead Aladdin.

But a new plan had just begun, one that the young lord had a great deal of confidence in. An outside source had once again been hired, but this one was _far_ more competent, a bounty hunter by trade.

This one would work, Mozenrath was sure. It _had_ to work.

 

* * *

 

"Chase Young, hand over the Traverser's Pyramid!" Raimundo demanded vehemently, glaring at the warlord intensely.

The man blinked at the bold and authoritative request. "Again?" he inquired. "This must be the twelfth time you've decided to declare a Showdown for it. Any particular reason you're so intent on having it?"

"We..." Kimiko was slightly unsure about actually saying it aloud, but she soon got over it. "We want Jack back!"

 _"Don't' we all?"_ Chase mused silently. How long had the boy been gone? Four years already, and still, the blasted Pyramid would show him nothing! How long would he have to suffer such ignorance as to his mate's current life, much less whether or not he was alive? Yes, his _mate_ , he admitted it! He _had_ harbored at least _some_ feelings for the boy, but his evil deeds seemed to have caught up with him, because it was only after the boy was gone that he fully realized it. Damned irony.

"Well, how interesting. If it _really_ means so much to you, I suppose I could—" His taunting sarcasm was cut off by a growling roar, and Chase immediately turned his head to see a black jaguar run into the room. "Diol? What is it?"

The cat lay something in his mouth onto the ground, nudging it closer to his master with his snout.

It took Chase less than a second to identify the object. "The Traverser's Pyramid..." He was stunned. Had it unclouded? Did it show anything of Jack? Where he was? What he was doing?

With barely any hesitation, the man snatched up the object and inspected it with curiosity, not even bothering to tell the monks, or Wuya who had been mostly in the background up until that point, to back away as they peered over his shoulder.

What they saw...was nothing like what they had expected, whatever what they had expected was.

An impressively large citadel on a cliff stood proudly over a small, dilapidated town from the vision that was shown in the crystal object. The ground looked to be completely black and it was similar in tone to the sky, a dark, shadowy shade of its own, and the moon hanging above seemed dulled in the context of the rest of the area. The view moved closer, into the actual city, and Kimiko reeled backwards slightly, gagging at the sight of what looked to be stitched together and walking corpses carrying swords. Chase raised a curious eyebrow as a brownish-colored...something approached the undead warriors.

"What doing here? Master said go to Aladdin! To Muktar!" the small creature hissed at them, and when the cadavers merely looked at him, it specified, "Mozenrath said go to Agrabah! Find Aladdin!"

At the mention of the name, "Mozenrath," the corpses froze as if frightened, and then...sank into the sand?!

The floating creature huffed, exasperated. "Stupid Mamluks..." it grumbled, before turning and flying off towards the dark-looking citadel at the edge of the cliff.

And then the Pyramid ceased to show anything, the vision having finished.

No one was sure what to make of it, because they were _pretty sure_ they hadn't seen Jack anywhere.

"Oh my gosh...do you think...do you think Jack is one of those zombies?" Kimiko asked hesitantly, praying that she wasn't right in her guess.

"Or worse, maybe that...worm thing?" Raimundo added, still staring at the Traverser's Pyramid, though it was nothing but blank crystal now.

 _"No..."_ Chase thought to himself, _"Jack's too smart to have something like that done to him, despite the way he's acted in the past. He's still human. If nothing else, that remains true."_

"No matter what has happened to him, it is our duty to rescue Jack Spicer from this disturbing dimension!" Omi declared valiantly.

Raimundo nodded in agreement, quickly assessing the situation. There wasn't time for a Showdown; Jack could be in serious trouble right now, and who knows how much longer he could wait for help? After all, it had already been four whole years! Shooting out his hand, he made contact with the crystal pyramid, still in Chase's grasp, and declared, "Traverser's Pyramid!" with the remaining mental image he had of what had been shown.

A blinding flash of lights enveloped the whole group, Rai, Kim, Omi, Clay, Wuya, and Chase, and before they knew it, they were falling through the air in somewhere that was, from their free-falling and minimally-detailed perspective, very, _very_ dark.

A soft thudding noise signified the majority of landings shortly followed by a pained groan as the impact caught up with the rest of them. Chase, however, had enough sense of mind to land more gracefully, in a half-crouched position before standing to his full height and observing the area.

Yes, this was definitely the same place shown in the Traverser's Pyramid, not the dilapidated town, per se, but the general area at least. The black ground, he noted, was sand, pitch black sand, an oddity to be sure. The pale moon that hung in the sky _did_ seem dimmer than it should have been, and it hadn't just been brightness lost in the pyramid's surface. Chancing a glance at said pyramid, still in his possession, he saw a dark blue light at the tip of it, glowing very faintly. Chase raised an eyebrow, experimentally pointing the crystal towards the ghost town, no pun intended, and was gratified to see it brighten exponentially the closer the tip was pointed to the shady citadel.

In the background, Wuya was furious. "You little brat! Why would you drag us all here?!"

"Shut up, you hag!" Raimundo growled in his defense, "You _know_ why we're here!"

The witch's face was beet-red in her rage. "You're here to save that idiot, Jack, I know! You just _had_ to drag me and Chase along, too, didn't you?!"

"Hey!" Kimiko cut in, "You can't talk to Rai that way, you bitch!" The young woman wasn't about to tolerate her boyfriend being bad-mouthed by some ancient biddy.

"I'll talk to him however I want, _little girl_!" Wuya then huffed, crossing her arms in a superior manner. "Well, at least I won't have to put up with you dumb kids any longer. Chase still has the pyramid, and _we'll_ be going back while _you_ stay here in no-man's land, right, Chase?" The witch paused, hearing no response. "Chase?"

The group looked to see the man staring blankly towards the town, no emotion written on his face, but an odd determination in his eyes, a determination that made both Xiaolin and Heylin's words to him die in their throat. Just as Wuya had worked up the nerve to try and get his attention, she was once again made speechless as he began casually walking towards the buildings.

"Chase?! What are you doing?!" Her shocked questions were left unanswered, and the monks quickly spared confused glances towards each other before shrugging it off and running to catch up to what was probably their best chance of surviving in this strange place. Wuya growled to herself before quickly joining them as well.

 

* * *

 

"So, Xerxes, is everything in place?"

"Yes, sir!" the eel saluted his master cheerfully, "Muktar started taking Aladdin's friends; soon Aladdin, too!"

"And the Mamluks? Have they been sent to augment the illusion?" Mozenrath was far more pleased than he had been just this morning. It looked like things were going well.

"Mamluks sent! Muktar be ready." Xerxes was pleased as well to have so much good news for his master today.

"Good." Mozenrath intertwined his long fingers, laying his elbows on the arms of his throne as he leaned back, purely calm as he had not been in some time. "Then everything is going..."

"According to plan!" Xerxes chirped in, happily finishing his master's sentence, then curling up into a ball on the sorcerer's lap.

The Muktar, one of the last of an ancient race, was now, due to necessity, a genie hunter, an expert in such from the centuries of hatred between the two races. Mozenrath had hired this particular Muktar to play an integral part of his plan, to lead Genie to his citadel and straight into a trap.

The plan was both simple and convoluted: the Muktar would capture Aladdin and his friends one by one until only the genie remained. Then, the reptilian creature would reveal himself to Genie, claiming he was being hunted by Mozenrath, a fact to be "proven" when the Mamluks showed up and attacked the two. The Muktar would have revealed by then that he was holding the creature's friends as hostages in order to force the genie's aid. This would bring them to the sorcerer's lands in the genie's attempt to obtain his friends' freedom, and Genie would soon find _himself_ caught within the Crystal of Ix, his power then available to Mozenrath to use however he saw fit. By then, of course, he would be able to remove Aladdin from the picture entirely, making today a particularly momentous occasion.

His good mood was interrupted by a strange twinge in the back of his consciousness. Blinking in confusion, he tried to place the feeling, recognizing that it felt...familiar. While he was deep in thought, Xerxes noticed his master's sudden contemplative behavior and, worried, flew from his lap to meet his eyes. Seeing black pupils and irises glazed over, the eel tried, "Master alright?"

Mozenrath raised his right hand to reassuringly pet his familiar as he answered, "I'm...not sure, Xerxes...I just felt something...something I haven't felt since..." he gasped as realization hit, "since before I came to this world!" That twinge in the back of his mind was the tell-tale sign of Shen Gong Wu magic. He would have realized it _much_ sooner had he not been out of contact with it for so long, but the magic itself could only mean one thing: a Shen Gong Wu was in this universe, and there was at least one Xiaolin or Heylin with it.

Xerxes was shocked speechless. His master's old life...had it finally decided to find him? No...no, Mozenrath couldn't go back, he _promised!_

As if sensing the eel's apprehension, Mozenrath deftly snatched up his familiar and lay the creature back down on his lap. "Easy, Xerxes, I'm not going back. I _can't_ go back, you know that."

Breathing deeply to calm his nerves, Xerxes wondered aloud, "What master do?"

"I'll handle it, Xerxes," he assured, frowning unhappily at the turn of events, "I'll handle it."

 

* * *

 

"Ugh, I can't believe we're actually trying to find that little brat..." Wuya muttered, trudging almost childishly behind Chase. It was worse for her, she supposed, because it seemed like she was the only one who didn't want to be here. Shouldn't Chase have decided this "adventure" unworthy of his time already? Shouldn't he have left via the Traverser's Pyramid and taken her home, too? Something _weird_ was going on here...

She didn't really have long to ponder this, however, as a swarm of undead creatures rose from the sand around them, swords poised for battle.

Instantly snapping into fighting stances, the entire group froze as a voice spoke out from just ahead of them.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Chase's eyes immediately darted to the figure. Dark hair, dark eyes, and pale skin were the first things to catch his eye, followed by the overall appearance of the young man before him. He was dressed in a royal fashion, almost reminiscent of a prince, and his physical form only emphasized such an assumption with his long, elegant limbs and a handsome face. The warrior blinked. Was it possible...?

"Intruders!" piped in the worm-like creature previously shown in the pyramid, flying out from behind the newcomer.

"Who are you?" Raimundo demanded, locking eyes with the stranger.

"I am Mozenrath," the young man declared with pride, bowing gracefully, "and it seems that you have wandered into my kingdom, mistakenly or not."

"Oh, well we're sorry for th' trouble," Clay excused, "but we're lookin' fer-"

"Regardless of your reason for being here," Mozenrath interjected, "you have happened to come at a bad time for me, and so I'm afraid that until I have the time to deal with you all properly, I'm going to have to imprison you."

"What?!" Kimiko exclaimed disbelievingly, "You can't just imprison people!"

 _"How familiar..."_ Mozenrath's inner-self said, reminded of his own first day in the Land of the Black Sands. "Of course I can," he said aloud. "I have the ability to do so, and being completely blunt, you're powerless to tell me otherwise." With a snap of his gloved fingers, his magic-binding chains encircled each individual Heylin and Xiaolin tightly.

Chase frowned at the chains, internally shocked as he found that he was unable to free himself with his magic. The others figured this out pretty quickly, as well, unable to use any of their elemental magic.

Wuya, on the other hand, was relatively oblivious to all of this, lost in this dark young man's beauty. He was...he was just _gorgeous_ , there was no other word she could find to describe his grace, his elegance, his sheer attractiveness! The most alluring thing, it seemed, was a certain aura that emanated from him, something that just _screamed_ evil to her.

Scenting the pheromones from the woman beside him and noting her green eyes glued firmly to this lord, Chase huffed to himself. They were in chains, and that was all she could think about? Typical. Another scent that caught his nose gave him pause, however, and he took the time to examine it. It was a familiar scent, but yet so different from what he remembered. Thinking back, it struck him that he was used to the scent being accompanied by the oil used in machinery and oftentimes the scent of fear, but now though much the same as before, it was heavily masked by magic and death.

The truth seemed _so_ obvious to him by now, but his mind refused to let himself believe it. This young man, Mozenrath, was _not_ Jack Spicer. The change in personality required for the statement to be true was _far_ too intense to actually be reality, and not even the insistence of his inner dragon, reduced to whimpering purrs by now in the desire to be closer to its mate, could convince him otherwise until he had solid proof.

"Hey, what did you do to us?!" Kimiko exclaimed, wriggling in the metal chains and extremely put off at having her element blocked.

Mozenrath grinned, showing off pearly white teeth (at which, of course, Wuya practically swooned like a teenaged schoolgirl). "That's a more frequent reaction than you'd think. Those chains restrict magic: you're all completely powerless."

 _This...may very well be the best thing_ _ **ever!**_ he practically squealed joyously in his head. He had been wary at the first sign of their prescence, but now... _My old enemies' lives are entirely in my hands!_ His adrenaline levels were nearly through the roof at the thought, but of course, he was careful to keep all of this from his face. They weren't _entirely_ stupid and they might take such an expression at their suffering as a vague clue...that, and he would rather make his second first impression the best he could.

"You will not get away with this, fiend!" Omi glared at the sorcerer, scowling in a manner that suggested the taller (much taller) to be inferior to him.

His gloved hand came to rest on his chin as Mozenrath simply pondered the sentence aloud. "Hmm...no powers, chained up, and totally at my mercy, which has been running thin as of late...yes, of course, I will pay for my transgressions against you _most_ dearly."

Xerxes flew up to the round-headed monk, hissing at him in an intimidating manner and then smirking, gratified, as he cowered back in surprise and fear. "Put in dungeon?" he queried to his master, absently curious as to whether the young lord had something else in store for the six of them.

Chase inhaled sharply as he saw black irises flash to red for a split second before returning to their previous shade.

"No..." Mozenrath answered, a faraway tone to his voice as if in realization of something. "Have them put with the crystal..."

"The crystal?" the eel tilted his head to the side, perplexed. Wasn't that where...? What was his master hoping to accomplish with this?

"Yes, Xerxes, you heard me." A wicked grin came over his features and the enchained group found themselves subjected to a slight chill at the look on his face. "Besides the fact of convenience, it'd be a good... _learning experience_ for them."

Xerxes' eyes brightened as the realization struck, and he cackled at the idea, draping onto his master's shoulder as the hilarity rendered him nearly immobile. They would get to see the death of Aladdin at Mozenrath's hands. "Yes, yes, 'learning experience'!"

A snap of fingers went with the largely unspoken order, "Mamluks!", and the newly-made prisoners were quickly apprehended by the undead. Chase resisted the urge to gag as the scent of rot and death assailed his senses so much stronger than before now that the creatures were right next to him as opposed to several feet away. Internally, his dragon whined at the loss of its mate's scent, but it was somewhat appeased at hearing his voice.

"I'd hold your breath if I were you," the young man taunted, and the statement was soon understood when the Mamluks began sinking into the sand, quickly followed by those that they held by the chains.

As the prisoners sank completely beneath the sand, several of them being largely unprepared for the immersion, Mozenrath turned to his familiar. "I think that went well, don't you?"

"Very good!" the eel immediately agreed, "Real intimidating!"

"I didn't overdo it?" Let Mozenrath be the first to admit he had a tendency to get caught up in the drama of the moment.

"Uh-uh, perfect!" Xerxes insisted. "Didn't suspect a thing!"

The sorcerer sighed, relieved. "Good. I had thought I saw some suspicion, but I suppose not." It was probably just a few of those sleepless nights getting the best of him.

Throwing his master a sly look, Xerxes added, while raising an eyebrow suggestively, "Witch _likes_ you."

Mozenrath froze. "Wuya? _Likes_ me?" he echoed, disbelievingly. Granted, he hadn't exactly been looking at her, but...Wuya?!

"Uh-huh! Witch make googly-eyes at master!" As if to prove his point, he did a parodical impression of the woman, making a kissy-face and dreamy eyes.

Mozenrath was totally silent for a short moment, digesting the information before he burst out laughing. "Oh, irony is a cruel mistress indeed, Xerxes: a woman who couldn't _stand_ me a mere four years ago has become totally amorous of me and _she doesn't even know who I am_!"

Xerxes found this as amusing as his master did, and broke out into a giggle fit.

Sighing and wiping away a tear of mirth, the young lord regretfully banished all thoughts of his previous life, the current one calling him back to reality with another tingling sensation of approaching magic. "Well, Xerxes, as amusing as this is, I'm afraid we have work to do. It seems the genie's just entered our kingdom."

Xerxes loyalty went unquestioned, and the two of them were quickly off to prepare for their ultimate conquest.

 

* * *

 

"Ack!" Kimiko cried out as she landed hard on the marble floor. "Watch it, you stupid zombies!"

"Where do ya' reckon we're at?" Clay wondered, taking the time to observe the peculiar surroundings.

"It is most clear we have been taken to that villain's lair," Omi said, as if it were obvious, and for once, it was. There was really no mistaking the dark theme of the elegant room, dark marble floors and walls, odd-looking, but unmistakably evil themed skulls, snakes, and other decorations along the walls and floors in the form of mosaics.

Wuya's eyes caught the large crystal in the center of the room, no greater in height than the average elephant, but understandably smaller than a blue whale. "If he can afford _this_ kind of thing in some random room, I can hardly imagine what his throne room must look like..." she muttered under he breath. Handsome, powerful, _and_ rich. Maybe it was time for her to change loyalties...

"Hmm..." Chase hated to admit it, but he was impressed. Not immensely so, as he was not new to finery, but still: what he had seen of the palace _was_ rather charming, in a dark sort of way.

Rai spoke up then. "Yeah, okay, so this guy's loaded; does anybody have an idea to get out of here?" The silence was deafening. "Great."

 

* * *

 

Two Mamluks patrolled atop the wall around their master's citadel, touching swords as they passed in a gesture of recognition, when, to their shock, they were grabbed from behind, picked up, and thrown off of the ledge with a surprising ease.

The culprit was none other than the hired Muktar, the humanoid reptilian creature exceedingly skilled in the hand-for-hire trade. Doing a quick check of the immediate area, he leaned over the ledge, locking eyes with Genie and saying, "The way issss clear."

Genie, dressed in Swedish mountain climber attire, tossed a rope up to his companion who caught it and then proceeded to help the magical entity climb up. When he reached the top of the wall, he sat casually on the edge and had it noted, "You know, mountain climbing always puts me in the mood for hot cocoa." To emphasize this, he poofed a steaming mug of the drink into his hand with a smile, offering some to the hunter.

The Muktar slapped away the mug, scowling fiercely. "There'ssss no time for genie-nonsensssse!" With that, he abruptly turned and stalked away from the annoyance he dubbed 'Genie.'

Genie slumped, insisting, "There's _always_ time for cocoa." Nonetheless, he followed the Muktar.

Laying a cold four-fingered hand on the large entrance to Mozenrath's citadel, the reptile's eyes darted to and fro before pushing open the heavy door with Genie's help. The blue creature quickly darted inside, but the Muktar hesitated a moment before entering. The deception was going smoothly; the genie didn't suspect a thing. "Mozenrath'ssss lair," he announced in the low, hissing tone that was his voice. "Now our battle startssss."

Within moments, the pair was deep within the heart of the citadel, and they quickly turned a corner, pressing themselves as flat against the wall as they were able. "Danger lurkssss around every corner," the Muktar warned his genie 'friend'. "An enchanted place is thissss."

"How is it that you know so much about this place?" It was an innocent question on Genie's part, but the slight thrill of fear that comes with being caught in a lie shot through the Muktar's heart.

He thought on his feet, however, and quickly came up with an excuse. "I wassss a prisoner here."

Luckily, Genie bought it, and answered back with, "Oh, I've been here before more times than I can remember. It seems like Mozenrath is always finding a way to drag me here."

 _"If only you knew..." The_ Muktar turned towards a door to their right, emblazoned similarly to the entrance doors only with twining roses as opposed to snakes, and he stared at it suspiciously as a scent caught his nose. "I ssssmell something magical...ssssomething powerful..." What was this room? He had never seen it before, so what...?

Genie puffed out his chest proudly. "I bet it's that teen potentate with a megalomaniacal disposition!" Altering his form into an army soldier's, he smirked, charging towards the room. "Let's make his day."

The Muktar, realizing the danger in bursting into rooms containing powerful magic which was known as a fact by at least one person to be totally unknown, jumped in front of the door. "No!"

It was too late for Genie to stop, however, and the impact jettisoned them through the door and onto the floor inside.

Looking up with a gasp, they saw, of course, a gigantic animate plant, Venus Flytrap-like in nature and cleary _very_ upset at the intrusion.

Genie jumped out of the way as purple roots shot towards the two and he managed to get away safely. The Muktar, however, having been pinned under Genie until it was too late, was caught tightly within the animated appendages and dragged towards the plant's mouth.

Drawing his sword, the Muktar swung at the vegetation, but as it was dangling him in midair and pulled him away or even upside down when it thought it might get hit, the effort was generally useless.

A stray, flailing root slammed into the column the genie hid behind, knocking a chunk away as the entity simply watched.

The Muktar fought valiantly, but whatever balance he had was stolen as a second root coiled tightly around his legs to join the one about his waist, and he was at the plant's mercy, of which it was unlikely there was any.

His theory was proven right almost immediately, and he found himself slammed hard against the floor, simultaneously throwing off his bag and knocking the sword out of his hand.

The bag slid across the floor to Genie's hiding place, and spying a glint of gold from the opening of it, he reached in to pull out a strange-looking amulet.

Upon closer examination, it was the amulet that displayed the images of his friends! Aladdin, Jasmine, Carpet, Abu, Iago, everyone who had been captured was shown in the shiny gold surface!

Smiling, Genie assured the necklace, "Don't worry, Al, I'll find a way get you out of there!" He quickly snatched up the bag, placing the amulet back inside, and ran off, fully intent on getting back to Agrabah.

 

* * *

 

The Muktar's fingers were making desperate indents in the floor as he was dragged closer and closer to the sentient plant's waiting mouth, filled to the brim with sinfully sharp teeth. He didn't fear for his life half as much as he feared that this would be the first mission he failed, but that didn't mean he _wasn't_ scared to die.

 

* * *

 

Hearing the roars of the Venus Flytrap from his place in the hall, Genie stopped, turning guiltily towards their source. The Muktar had tried to capture him for his old master once, and their races were sworn enemies! But then...he had just been following orders to make a living, right? And...just because they were _supposed_ to be enemies didn't mean they _had_ to be, right?

 

* * *

 

The Muktar was highly tempted to scream as he was hoisted in the air, directly above the ravenous creature's gullet, but his biology made the action physically impossible.

 

* * *

 

Glancing at the amulet Genie apologized, "Sorry, guys. Muktar may be my sworn enemy, but..." He left the rest unsaid.

 

* * *

 

Propping himself in the plant's mouth, the Muktar stared straight into what was almost certainly his death, regardless of his attempt to delay it.

"Eat this, vile weed of doom!" Genie shouted courageously from the doorway, charging at the plant with a weed-whacker in tow.

Hacking off the roots keeping him at bay, Genie made it to the mouth just in time to prevent the Muktar from falling into the gaping, toothy mouth as his hands slipped, easily severing the vine holding the reptile and causing him to fall backwards and away from the plant.

Genie kept slicing through the vines and roots until there was barely anything left, at which point he changed himself into the likeness of a Chinese woman and held up the remains of the sentient vegetation in a pot. "One bonsai man-eating snapper plant, just takes a little trimming!" There were, indeed, three very small heads left in the pot. "These guys are cute," he said, poking at a head, "but they still bite." It was apparently time for Genie to take his own advice, because the head he had poked snapped at his finger harshly, to which it was quickly cast aside.

The Muktar groaned, sitting up from his position on the floor and staring incredulously at Genie. "You ssssaved me..."

Now in a costume reminiscent of Superman (with a lamp instead of the trademarked 'S') Genie proudly declared, "I had to! It's a good guy thing: truth, justice, and saving people you may not like!"

Thinking that the genie might not have realized what he had given up, the Muktar decided to spell it out for him. "You could have escaped with your friendssss."

"Aw, it's in my nature. I help people! Even you." Genie reached his hand down for the hunter to take.

Ignoring the offer of help, the Muktar frowned, hissing vaguely, "Thissss was not expected. I owe you a debt of honor that I _musssst_ repay." Bowing in respect, the reptile's intelligent mind was already working on a way he could execute what he was hired to do while still repaying his debt. Hmm...that would work rather nicely...

"Hey, since we're all buddy-buddy, what with me saving you and all, hows about you...free my pals?" Genie persuaded.

Pushing away the wish-granter, who had gotten too close for his liking, the Muktar growled out, "We are _not_ friendssss." He walked over to where his lost items were, sliding his sword into the sheath on his back and replacing his bag upon his shoulder. "That is forbidden for our kind."

Watching as the reptile, as emotionally temperate as his cold blood, stalked from the room, Genie muttered, "I knew you'd say that..."

 

* * *

 

A suspiciously Genie-like sarcophagus lay against the wall as two patrolling Mamluks passed it. It wasn't that they didn't think it out of the ordinary; no, they had been down these halls for what must have been lifetimes, and all ordinary sights were familiar to them while unfamiliar things stuck out like a sore thumb. They had been given specific orders to ignore odd sightings tonight, and they _were not_ about to disobey their master.

As the walking corpses passed, Genie whispered, "Okay, they're gone!"

"Excellent..." answered the Muktar, peeking out from the sarcophagus. "Mozenrath is closssse."

"You think?" Genie asked excited at the prospect of defeating the sorcerer and freeing his friends.

Sniffing the air in pretense, as he knew this was where Mozenrath would be, the Muktar assured, "Yes." There was a bit more magic in the air than there should have been, but it was promptly ignored. Approaching the door behind which stood the crystal of the genie's doom, the reptile attempted to goad him into action. "His evil stench is strong."

"Right!" Genie exclaimed, changing himself into a bull. "This time for sure!"

Watching the genie start to charge, the Muktar's eyes widened before they were rolled, exasperated, and he raised his cloak to keep the soon-to-be debris of the door from getting in his eyes. As a hunter-for-hire, his skills and strength came second only to his eyes and mind.

The door shattered easily, and Genie immediately changed back with a gasp at the sight the met his eyes. "The Crystal of Ix!"

Said crystal glowed bright red, casting the light over the group still held captive within the room, and they watched, utterly confused, as the genie was dragged towards the crystal by the red light. "Agh, Muktar! Help me!"

The reptile stood cooly in the doorway, bowing elegantly away with a sweep of his cape as he respectfully made way for his client. Mozenrath had just stepped into the room, smirking like a cat that had just eaten the canary.

"I have delivered the genie, as promised," the Muktar informed Mozenrath, keeping his head bowed in a gesture of submission to his superior.

"As promised?!" Genie exclaimed, feeling horribly betrayed.

"You want a genie," the young lord began, "hire a genie hunter."

"Muktar trick Genie!" Xerxes laughed hysterically as the latter was pulled completely into the Crystal of Ix.

Wuya nearly screeched like a fangirl right then: the red light cast over the young man's features, smirking devilishly, made him look simply irresistible. Oh, yes, she _definitely_ needed to change her loyalties.

Chase merely looked at the sorcerer, sizing him up. It had been a clever move to lure a genie right to him, and smart to exert such minimal effort on his own part in doing so. An admirable scheme, he decided. But what would the young man do now that he had the power of a genie in his hands? Those creatures had a tendency to make wishes backfire.

The sorcerer approached the crystal, inspecting it and its contents carefully. "You sure not to use any of your traps on the genie?" he questioned the hunter who stood behind him. "Not even the magic-trapping bolas?"

"It wassss as agreed," the reptile assured with a quick bow.

"Good..." Mozenrath smiled wickedly, the crystal's now-blue light shining over him. "I need his magic to be pure." Stepping closer to the trapped Genie, the young lord decided to initiate conversation by telling him things he probably already knew, but would be largely beneficial to his confused captive audience. "Now, I _could_ go into a long, involved description about how the Crystal of Ix works, but...in a nutshell—"

"Crystal take genie's power!" Xerxes finished, chuckling cruelly in Genie's face.

Chase raised an eyebrow at this new development. So _that's_ what he intended to do...

"I could've said it better myself," Mozenrath had it noted, smiling cattily, "but why bother?"

Struggling within his confining prison, Genie snapped at the Muktar, outraged, "What about your debt of honor?! You owe me! I saved your life!"

"What is he babbling about?" the sorcerer asked the hunter, annoyed at the interruption.

"Genies are sssstupid. There is no such debt," he lied, but also told the truth; there wouldn't be a debt soon. "He even believed his friendssss were still alive."

"Aladdin's dead?" Genie squeaked out disbelievingly.

Chase saw the immediate tensing of muscles from the sorcerer and fully expected it when the young man darted forward, grabbing a hold of the reptile. "I wanted to finish Aladdin!" he snarled, furious. How _dare_ he take that kind of initiative?! Aladdin was _his_ to kill, the hero to his villain!

Pushing his client back to a comfortable distance, the Muktar explained, "He was dangerous. It wassss the only way."

"Oh, Al..." Genie slumped in the crystal, depression from the death of his closest friend quickly setting in.

Intent on taking his rage out on something living and within close reach, Mozenrath took hold of Xerxes, huffing, "Aladdin was to have been mine!" before hurling the poor unfortunate creature into the nearest wall. He'd apologize later, but he was in the middle of a tantrum right now.

Realizing he couldn't go spiraling into unholy fury just yet, he took a deep breath and attempted to calm himself. "Okay...okay...let's look at the big picture: I have the genie, Aladdin is dead, and my plans for world conquest are shaping up nicely." The attempt successful, he leaned against the solid gold stand that held the crystal upright. "All in all, it's been a good night." He then reached into his cloak, pulling out a pouch that contained a rather large sum of gold, weighing it in his gloved hand before tossing it to the Muktar. "You will find the sum we agreed upon," he addressed the creature, adding good-naturedly, "plus a bonus for your ruthlessness."

"Hmm..." the hunter did a mental calculation based upon the feeling of the pouch in his hand and determined the words to be the truth. With a final quick bow, he turned to leave the room.

"I hope your consssscience lets you ssssleep, you _ssssnake!_ " Genie mocked viciously at the reptile's turned back, hoping every word stung like lemon juice in an open wound.

The Muktar paused only momentarily before continuing on his way.

"I could've run away, but _nooo,_ I'm a good guy!" The monks frowned, realizing that the 'Muktar' creature had betrayed the genie, but otherwise stayed silent. This wasn't their battle, and even if it was, what could they do about it in their position?

"Now, my big blue friend," Mozenrath called the creature's attention to himself, adjusting his Gauntlet on his hand before raising it menacingly, "let's see how powerful you really are..."

Genie whimpered at the promise of things to come, shrinking back in the crystal as much as he was able.

 

* * *

 

The Muktar sat on a dinosaur-like bird, used by his people as transportation and who he had named Saurus, on a cliff overlooking the vast expanse of the Land of the Black Sands. A small hand lain on his shoulder and a questioning glance from his mate, Barakah, was ignored.

He turned Saurus away from the cliff and dismounted, reaching in his bag for the amulet. Opening the thing, a bright light overtook the area, and as it faded, Aladdin and his friends were revealed, free of the necklace.

"Jasmine!" Aladdin exclaimed immediately upon seeing his girlfriend. "You're okay!" The two embraced fondly, oblivious to all else.

Iago gasped, warily looking around. "We're in the Land of the Black Sands..."

"Aladdin, what happened?" Jasmine asked curiously.

"Mozenrath offered a fair price for your genie," the Muktar announced his presence. "You were in the way."

Abu squeaked as Iago hid behind him, muttering, "The Muktar...I told you it was a monster!"

Barakah directed Saurus towards the parrot and monkey, looming over them menacingly. "All that is not like you is not a monster," she huffed, throwing back the white, leathery fringe that framed her face, her yellow reptilian eyes burning a hole into the poor animals as she stared them down.

"Uh, sure, whatever you say, heh, heh," Iago chuckled nervously, backing several steps away from the irritated female. A Muktar was a Muktar, regardless of sex, and Muktars were all highly trained in combat: it was incredibly unwise to get on one's bad side.

"Then why let us go?" Jasmine asked suspiciously, still centered around the conversation that was being had with the male hunter.

"I owed the genie a debt of honor. He _will_ perish," he said remounting Saurus, "but now his friends will live."

"We've gotta go after Genie!" Aladdin exclaimed righteously.

"Risking your lives for a genie?" the Muktar asked condescendingly.

"Stupid," Barakah decided, turning her head in a scoff.

"He's my friend," Aladdin insisted, once again using his amazingly effective tactic of getting up in someone's face. "He'd do the same for me."

"Do what you will," the Muktar said. "The genie is no longer my concern." And with that, he and his mate rode off, leaving Aladdin and company to their own devices.

 

* * *

 

"You seem upset, Rais," Barakah noted of her beloved, now several miles away. "I will not aid the genie, but you know I will support you in whatever your choice may be."

Rais made a thoughtful noise before gently tugging the reins of his steed, turning back from whence they had come.

 

* * *

 

"Tell me, Genie, does this hurt?" Mozenrath asked, in jest of course, as he already knew the answer. He lay his hand on the crystal, drawing magic from the entity's very lifeforce.

"Aaah! Ooh! Oh!" Each touch sent a feeling similar to an electric shock through his system.

Chase casually looked on from his place, wondering if the sorcerer was aware of the figure at the high window.

"You know what your magic is good for, Genie?" the young lord asked rhetorically.

"Fun at parties?" he tried. "Making toast? Getting rid of unwanted hair?"

"This!" Generating a magical blast in his hand, he quickly spun around, tossing the neon blue fire at the window where Aladdin was perched atop Carpet.

The streetrat was quick enough to dodge the blast as it decimated the window ledge, but was not prepared for it to shift into a large clawed hand, which quickly darted forward and pulled Carpet out from underneath him. Aladdin landed in a heap on the floor.

"Aladdin," Mozenrath addressed, "I'm so pleased that you're alive...for the moment!" Bracing his gloved arm, Mozenrath sent out another highly-charged energy blast, and this one took the shape of a winged snake that quickly caught Aladdin in its coils.

Xerxes, having gotten himself together, now hovered next to his master again, cackling evilly. "Mozenrath beat Aladdin!"

The sorcerer grinned at the praise, drawing just a bit more magic from the genie. This power was absolutely _fantastic!_

His enjoyment of said power was interrupted by a kick at his back, effectively catching him by surprise and knocking him over.

"Playtime's over," Jasmine declared, hands on her hips.

Mozenrath scowled up at the young woman. "Princesses should be seen, not heard." Lunging forward, he grabbed her by the ankles, using a moderate-level spell to turn her to stone, but not before her final cry of, "Aladdin!"

As the stone figure of the female hit the floor, unfortunately intact, Mozenrath grinned, entirely unable to stop himself. "I'm stopping good...stone cold."

"Reinforcements at twelve-o-clock! Aaaah!" Iago gave his best battlecry, flying in with Abu hanging from his talons.

Xerxes, seeing his opportunity to be of use, flew up and coiled tightly around the monkey, pulling him from the parrot's grasp in midair. This in turn knocked Iago off balance, and he went spiraling through the air before landing with a thud at the top of the Crystal of Ix.

Mozenrath watched warily. This _could_ spell trouble.

"Okay, Mr. Magic," mocked the bird, "let's see how _you_ like it!" Trying to draw magic from the crystal, Iago was zapped, unable to handle so much energy at once, and flew back into a wall, leaving a parrot-shaped dent. "Had enough smart guy?" he asked dizzily. "I have." The bird then flopped to the ground, exhausted.

 _"Well, then,"_ the young lord thought, _"problem solved."_

Aladin, meanwhile, noticed a torch on the wall and managed to grab a hold of the thing, shoving it in the magical snakes mouth with a shout of, "Chew on this!"

The snake writhed in pain, releasing Aladdin before dissipating into the air. The streetrat then jumped at Mozenrath, who had seen the youth free himself and was trying to get to the crystal. Knocking him over, Aladdin straddled his foe, holding him to the ground and away from the source of unfathomable power.

A very low, nearly inaudible growl rumbled from Chase's throat.

Mozenrath kicked Aladdin off and reached for the crystal, a mere foot or so away, but the streetrat quickly lunged back and forced his hand to the ground. "No more Genie-juice for you!"

The sorcerer scowled. "But I'm so thirsty!" Forcing away the younger's grip, he used his own magic to pull Genie's from the crystal without actually touching it, then blasting Aladdin at least several feet backwards with an electrical blast, which then, as all his magic seemed to be doing that day, transformed, this time into chains that bound the streetrat immobile.

Smirking, Mozenrath stood with the words, "You know, I like being semi-phenomenal nearly-cosmic."

"Don't get used to it!" Aladdin protested, wriggling in the chains.

"I hate to burden you with reality, Aladdin," the sorcerer taunted, "but you've run out of friends to save you." Imagine his surprise to find himself bound by a certain set of bolas.

"Still one friend left, Mozenrath," Rais spoke from the window ledge, cape billowing in the wind.

Realization of the betrayal dawning on him, Mozenrath growled, "You ungrateful snake!" sending a blast in the form of a sword at the Muktar.

As luck would have it, the reptile knocked it back with his own sword, and it flew through the air, cutting open the Crystal of Ix and freeing Genie.

"No!" Goddammit, not again! This was supposed to be the ultimate victory! And with those from his past life watching, too!

"Oh, yeah!" Genie stretched, glad to be free of the crystal. "That hit the spot!" Flying down to Mozenrath's level, he frowned at the young lord. "My magic was never meant to be used that way, it's in my contract!"

Taking the form of a 'good fairy'-esque creature, Genie went around the room, removing all spells cast on Aladdin and friends, changing Jasmine back from stone and unchaining Aladdin, Carpet, and Iago while Abu took the moment to escape from Xerxes's grasp, grabbing him by the tail and, for the second time that day, the eel was thrown into a wall.

Ire rising, the Gauntlet's magic took control of Mozenrath's body, lighting his hand a bright red color only for it to spread to the rest of him, alighting pain in every nerve-ending. The sorcerer couldn't hold back a cry of pain, and could do nothing more than writhe in agony.

"My magic-trapping bolas," Rais had it noted to Genie, who merely smiled and approached the helpless sorcerer.

"Aww, does that hurt?" he asked tauntingly, though it was doubtful the words reached the young lord through the intense pain. "It doesn't have to."

His body finally giving up the fight, he fell to the floor, unconscious, with a quiet groan.

If Chase hadn't been trying to escape his bonds before, he was now, but as even his change to dragon-form was blocked, his efforts were in vain.

Rais on the other hand, had quickly tired of the scene, and instead chose to leave the citadel to rejoin Saurus and his beloved Barakah.

"Seems like you're the one that's out of friends, Mozenrath," sneered Aladdin, casting a smug look in the still form's direction.

Wuya growled under her breath. How _dare_ they do that to him?!

The group turned to leave, not having noticed the Xiaolin or Heylin forces, when all of a sudden, a black-blue glow caught their attention, and they looked back towards it.

It was Mozenrath, slowly getting to his feet, and all watching gasped. He was _just_ knocked out, wasn't he?

Breathing heavily and nearly shaking from rage, the sorcerer snapped open ruby-red eyes to glare maliciously at Aladdin. "Not this time..." he murmured under his breath, locking eyes with his foe. Raising his voice, he repeated, "I won't lose to you this time, Aladdin!" The magic-trapping bolas snapped apart, and possibly the most dangerous sorcerer in the world at the moment was free. "Mamluks!" he commanded, and the corpses immediately appeared behind Jasmine, swords poised at her throat. "Xerxes!" The eel shot up and coiled tightly around both Iago and Abu. "Scirocco!" With a howl of wind, the jackal quickly entered the room, staring down Carpet and Genie to keep the from moving at all.

By all appearances, he now had his bases covered.

"Let them go, Mozenrath!" Aladdin shouted, once again jumping at the sorcerer, pinning him against the remains of the Crystal of Ix.

A half-psychotic chuckle answered him. "No, Aladdin, I don't think I will...what are you going to do about that?"

The answer was quickly given, a mean right-hook to the sorcerer's cheek, and the counter to that was a left-hook that knocked Aladdin to the floor.

The streetrat caught Mozenrath by the ankle and dragged him to the floor with him. Remembering that the sorcerer had a tendency to kick quite hard when held face-up on the floor, he deftly flipped the young lord over, keeping him pinned with an elbow on his back.

This, though inconvenient, was no trouble for the young man, and he used his own body as a conductor for a shock of electrical magic.

Aladdin screamed in pain, blindly trying to cease the painful current, succeeding as he knocked off Mozenrath's turban and yanked hard on the sorcerer's long, black hair.

An annoyed growl, and Mozenrath managed to flip the streetrat off of him, and in the younger's disorientation, he managed to reverse their earlier positions, and he now held his foe against the Crystal of Ix. "Well, Aladdin," he panted, unable to keep the vicious smirk from his lips, "I tire of playing with you. I want you to _watch._ " He snapped his gloved fingers.

The sword of a Mamluk sliced through Jasmine's throat, and she instantly collapsed to the floor. Xerxes's sharp teeth bit through Abu's neck, snapping it in half before Iago's innards were torn out in the same manner. Scirocco became an instant whirlwind, reducing Genie and Carpet to a pile of magical dust.

Aladdin froze at the sight, and the will to live left him instantly as he watched his friends die. "No...what have you...what have you done?"

Mozenrath laughed condescendingly. "I've killed them, Aladdin; they're dead and they'll never come back."

The monks could only gape at the grim scene. Wuya nearly fainted from her swoon. Chase simply looked on.

Aladdin visibly drooped, realization hitting him. "Kill me, too."

Mozenrath was eager to oblige.

The monks winced as a gloved hand lit up with magical energy and impaled the streetrat in one fell swoop.

Wuya grinned, finding herself enamored of such callous treatment for human life.

Chase tilted his head to the side in contemplation. _"How interesting...I wouldn't have thought him capable before..."_

Aladdin's corpse hit the floor for only a brief moment, after which it rose again, a dark purple-clothed Mamluk.

Xerxes grinned triumphantly, jagged and bloodstained teeth glinting in the torchlight of the room while Scirocco preened as well, fluffing out his fur in pride at his master.

Mozenrath, though, was silent, head down and face completely obscured by his inky black waves of hair. Had he perhaps realized that this was not the victory he had hoped for? Was he feeling remorse for commiting such vile and cruel acts against someone who had only been looking out for the best interests of his people, driving the young boy to such an end that he wished, nay, _begged_ for death? Did he...regret Aladdin's demise?

The sorcerer tossed his head back, simply unable to restrain the nearly-hysterical laughter that tore itself from his throat. The answer to the previous questions was a resounding 'no', and Mozenrath not only held no regret for killing Aladdin, but reveled in the fact. The Seven Deserts were his oyster, and there was now _nothing_ left to stop him.

And the best part of having killed Aladdin?

The monks, Wuya, and Chase had seen the whole thing.

There was no doubt for him anymore. He had _far_ surpassed the potential of Jack Spicer, sky-rocketed past it if being specific, and he had finally achieved the level of villain he had always desired: a dangerous force that was truly one to be reckoned with.

Oh, yes, today was _definitely_ his day.

A blood-coated Gauntlet was not something entirely necessary at the moment, and so a charge of magic coursed through Mozenrath's arm, burning away all trace of the substance at the sorcerer's whim.

Deciding his schedule was now a bit more free than it had been earlier, a crackle of black-blue magic engulfed the room, and the immediate area changed into Mozenrath's throne room. The prisoners were no longer off to the side, observers, but they now found themselves front and center in the room.

Pushing the dark curtain of hair from his face, the young lord relaxed into his throne, crossing one leg casually over the other, not even twitching as Scirocco sit at his feet and Xerxes took his usual position atop his shoulders. "Now that I'm decidedly less occupied," he began, addressing Raimundo specifically, "I believe there is still the matter of your encroachment on my lands and the reason for such. Care to explain?"

Supressing a shudder at the now solid black eyes staring him down and the good-natured smile of the sorcerer, Rai cleared his throat and spoke as authoritatively as he was able, "We have reason to believe that someone we know is here."

"Hmm...someone you know, eh?" he questioned as if unaware of the truth of the matter. "That's not much for me to go on. If you want my help, you'll have to be just a bit less vague." He ended with a slight chuckle, indicating one of his frequent mood swings had just taken place, and that he was feeling almost amiably towards the Xiaolin monk.

Rai blinked, startled by the offer of help, and glanced questioningly at his companions, who merely shrugged as if saying, 'Go with it.' "Uh, well, he's...kinda pale, wears a lot of black, a little too much eyeliner. Any of that ring a bell?"

Mozenrath interlaced his fingers in a contemplative gesture, all for show of course, but they didn't need to know that just yet. "Actually, now that you mention it, he _does_ sound familiar. I think a boy matching that description showed up maybe three or four years ago, right Xerxes?"

"Yeah," the eel nodded eagerly, "four years ago!"

"Really?!" Kimiko exclaimed, excited. "So you've seen him then?"

"Yes, if memory serves, I have." He was tempted to reveal everything right then, but that would ruin the surprise.

"What became of him? Are you aware of his current whereabouts?" The prospect of having a solid clue to find Jack made even Omi forget, momentarily, that the young man he was talking to had killed several living beings mere minutes beforehand.

"From what I recall, he was made a slave the minute he got here." That said, it was only a matter of time before...

"You turned Jack into a slave?!" Kimiko screeched, outraged.

"I demand you release Jack Spicer at once, Mozenrath!"

Forcing down a smirk, the sorcerer stood, largely calm in the face of the demands and exclamations. "Mm, I'm afraid that's rather impossible at this point as he's no longer a slave."

"Huh?" Kim blinked. "Well then...what happened to him?"

"He was taken as an apprentice, he answered, locking eyes with the young woman. "It seems he had a good enough connection with magic to train his skill in the use of it."

"Training that's paid off quite well, apparently." All eyes shot to Chase, who was fixing Mozenrath with a blank stare.

The sorcerer raised an eyebrow at the bold statement, questioning, "And what would you know of that?"

The warlord was silent for a moment, his head tilted to the ground as he refused to make eye-contact with anyone. "It seems you've grown quite ruthless in your abscence from us..." Golden eyes caught black and held the sorcerer's gaze firmly. "Jack."

The silence shattered with a resounding, "What?!" from just about every being in the room.

Mozenrath frowned. "That's a brash accusation you're making. Can you support it, or are you just bluffing?"

"I'm not bluffing." He would crack, Chase was sure of it.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Wuya interjected. "There's _no way_ he's—"

"I was _trying_ to build suspense," Mozenrath huffed at the man, annoyed. "You just had to go and ruin it, didn't you?"

"Wait, so...you really _are_ Jack?" Kimiko was still trying to wrap her mind around the concept.

"No," the sorcerer stated firmly, "not anymore. I am Mozenrath. But I _was_ Jack Spicer, if that's your question."

"No way..." Rai breathed in awe. How could Jack have become...this? It was simply unfathomable!

"Jack Spicer, we have come to rescue you!" Omi declared, holding the mission above all else.

"Ha!" Mozenrath scoffed. "Rescue me? That's a laugh."

"Really, we're here to save you!" Kim insisted.

"Then where were you four years ago?!" the young lord demanded, suddenly furious. "When I actually _needed_ saving?! Where were you then?!"

The monks shrunk visibly under his glare, noting his eyes had gone red again.

Wuya, far from being disgusted with herself in her admiration of the new Jack Spicer, fixed the young man with a sympathetic look. "It must have been hard for you here, Mozenrath."

The sorcerer crossed his arms, turning away. "Like you would know _anything_ about how hard it was..."

"I may not know what happened to you," she admitted, smiling slightly, "but I can help you get past it if you'd let me."

The monks gaped, disgusted at the exaggerated sweetness. Chase was highly tempted to tell the woman off, while a more bestial urge insisted that he bite off one of her limbs as well to serve as a warning.

Apparently, Mozenrath felt much the same way, because he cast the woman a cruel sneer. "As _tempting_ as the offer is, I'd rather not associate with a gold digger like you, Wuya."

"What?!" Did he just brush her off? Like some common skank?! "How dare you speak to me that way you little brat! You'd be _nothing_ now if it weren't for me!"

"On the contrary, if it weren't for you, this," he raised his gloved hand, making a general reference to his power, "would have been in my reach much earlier. Face it, hag, you were holding me back all that time! You're only upset now because I've finally realized wat I should have the day I met you: I'm _much_ too good for you."

The words felt sharp as daggers in the woman's heart, and she was at a total loss for what to say. Wuya's eyes stared firmly at the ground, avoiding contact as she realized, with no small hint of dread, the truth: he was right.

"...Jack...you don't belong here," Clay spoke, drawing Mozenrath's attention. "This isn't your home."

The sorcerer's demeanor went somber, and he laughed dryly. "You don't get it, do you? I _do_ belong here, this _is_ my home. There was never nor is there now a place for me in your world, but here..." he visibly brightened, an honest smile coming over his lips, "here, I have _everything_. I have my own kingdom, power, and wealth, the magnitude of which I had never _dreamed_ of having before. I am mere days away from total conquest of this world. I command legions of undead soldiers that obey my every beck and call. Frankly, I'm doing quite well for myself, if I do say so, but even more than that, there are living creatures who _actually_ care whether I'm alive or dead." Xerxes brushed against his master affectionately, and Scirocco moved to lay at his feet, curling his large fluffy tail around his master's legs. "I have more here, in a world that is 'not mine' than I could have hoped for in a million years in yours, so tell me: why in all the Seven Deserts would I desire to go back?"

It was Clay that was at a loss this time, and he shifted uncomfortably in his chains.

"What...what are you going to do with us now, then?" Raimundo asked cautiously, trying not to provoke the sorcerer's violent temper.

Mozenrath sighed, taking his place at his throne and massaging the birdge of his nose. "I don't know...I guess I'll just kill you."

"Ah, let us not be too hasty in the deciding of this!" Omi laughed nervously. "We would be less than happy to leave!"

"More," Mozenrath dully corrected, " _more than happy._ "

Omi was honestly too frightened for his and his friends lives to respond.

"Hm," the sorcerer considered, "I _could_ just let you all go..." They brightened. "Or I could just let Scirocco eat you." The jackal gave a wolfish grin and wagged his tail while the prisoners now _were_ less than happy.

"Jack—"

"Don't call me that," he groaned, cutting Chase off before he could speak, "I haven't gone by that name in a _long_ time, and I'm not about to start now."

"Mozenrath, then," the man corrected. "Wouldn't it be far more convenient for you to simply let them go?"

Xerxes raised an eyebrow. This warrior was _smart._ He had recognized the young lord's mood swings and already judged that, in a particularly intense mood, such as now, that he was prey to his emotions, a fact he was making effective use of. It had taken the sorcerer's familiar two consistent years of the behavior to recognize and accurately judge it.

"Yes..." Mozenrath admitted, "it would be. Fine." He snapped his fingers and the magic-binding chains fell away, disappearing before they even hit the ground. "You're free to go."

"Ugh, thank god!" Wuya exclaimed, extremely put off by be forced to be somewhere she didn't want to be. "Chase, get us out of here already!"

The man stood gracefully, and held the Traverser's Pyramid in one hand, as if contemplating it. A smirk twitched his lips, and he aimed the Wu directly at the witch, activating it without another thought.

Wuya screamed as she was hurled through time and space and the monks gaped, uttery baffled by the new chain of events.

They too, though, were soon sent through the magical portal, but luckily for them, Chase had seen fit to send them back home, a courteousy he had not offered for Wuya.

Mozenrath quirked an eyebrow as the warlord's gaze caught him. "Are you going to send me somewhere, too?" Apathy had quickly taken hold of him, and it wasn't letting go for something as trivial to him as this. He had been torn from a dimension before, and he came out of it relatively intact. He was stronger now than he was then, and he was pretty sure he could survive it again if need be.

"Send you away? Oh, no," Chase laughed, amused, as he casually stalked around the seated lord, "why would I do something like that?"

"Mm, I don't know," Mozenrath sighed, "because you hate me?"

A husky chuckle from the warlord, and he now stood directly in front of the sorcerer, hands braced on the throne. "To the contrary..." he breathed, leaning forward just so as to take the young man's lips in a kiss.

The reaction was immediate, a gloved hand shoving him roughly backwards while Scirocco and Xerxes growled, ready to defend their master in case of a confrontation. "What the hell was that?!" Mozenrath demanded, his apathetic demeanor having suddenly fled.

Chase, largely unphased, quickly retorted, "A kiss, generally used as a sign of affection in certain cultures."

The young man growled, standing from his throne to tower half an inch or so above Chase. "I _know_ what it was! I meant, 'why did you do it'?"

The warlord tsked. "Say what you mean and mean what you say, isn't that how the expression goes?"

Against the sorcerer's will, a red glow overtook his Gauntlet, sensing its wearer's irritation. "That's not an answer."

"True enough," Chase easily admitted, nonchalantly looking over the other, "but tell me: why do _you_ think I kissed you?"

Mozenrath huffed. "As if anyone could figure out _half_ of the motives behind your actions."

Chase grinned. "That's not an answer."

The young lord gave him a flat expression, forcing himself to ignore the playful tone. "To mock and confuse me?"

The warlord scoffed, laughing at the answer. "Such a convoluted way of thinking..." he chastised, "Did it ever occur to you that a kiss could mean what it is supposed to mean? Or did your mind immediately jump to the conclusion of some ulterior motive?"

A dark blush stained the younger's pale cheeks, and he turned from the man with a frown. "Was it wrong not to take you at face-value, then?"

"I wouldn't go _that_ far," Chase admitted, folding his arms across his chest, "but you should always keep the possibility in mind."

Mozenrath stopped suddenly, realizing to the full extent exactly what was happening, before simply bursting into laughter. "This is so fucked up..." he chuckled, a hand on his forehead as if to keep the migraine from coming back to him. "Where I once inspired disgust and hatred, it seems I now only enthuse amorous attentions." First Wuya and now Chase? Life must _really_ have hated him in order to put him in such awkward and emotionally painful situations _both_ in one day.

"That isn't true." The sorcerer froze at the sentence, cautiously turning to face the speaker. "As much I as told myself I believed it, I never hated you."

The admittance shocked Mozenrath to the core, and there was a good chance he'd have simply collapsed had Scirocco not sensed his master's emotional distresss and been there to support him. One of the unshakable truths in his life, that Chase Young would never care for him, had come crashing down, and it was... _chilling_. "But...but you hate me!" he protested desperately, "You've _always_ hated me! You...you can't just change your mind all of a sudden!" His objections were logically solid, but it was clear from his tone that his heart was just as firmly hoping for the exact opposite.

"And I haven't," the quick reply came. "I assure you, I have not been hasty in making this decision. After all, I've had _four entire years_ to think about it." Mozenrath tensed as Chase came up behind him, holding his arms in a light grip. "Have you _any_ idea of the waiting? What it was like? Not even knowing if you were alive or dead?" The words were practically hissed in the sorcerer's ear, borderline livid.

Tearing himself from the other's grasp, Mozenrath whirled about to face the man. "Of course I know what it's like!" he snarled back. "But there's a distinct difference between us if what you say is true: I didn't _care_ whether or not you were alive!"

Chase took one look in the other's eyes and knew his answer to the exclamation. "Liar."

"Oh, what do _you_ know?" the sorcerer countered weakly, flustered. "You weren't here, not even when I... _when I needed you_..." The last bit was barely audible, and Mozenrath's head ducked, almost embarrased, as he said it.

"No," Chase admitted, watching as the young lord flinched at the statement, "I wasn't here." He pulled the sorcerer back into his arms. "I'm sorry."

Mozenrath gasped at the apology. "What?" Chase...Chase _never_ apologized!

"I'm sorry that I wasn't here for you."

The young lord quickly realized that if he intended to keep his brain from exploding, he would have to step back to logical thought for a moment. Chase was claiming, at this moment in time, that he loved, or if not loved, held some 'romantic-in-nature' feelings for him. He also was saying that he regretted not being able to support him while he was trapped here, in this universe. This, although _highly_ illogical based on previous behavioral evidence, was possible in consideration of the human nature of changing perspectives.

Now that this had become an equation of logic, it was _much_ easier for Mozenrath to deal with.

So now, he had a working hypothesis: that all of the above was true. The next step would be to invent an experiment to test said hypothesis. _If_ Chase was indeed telling the truth, the best way to ascertain this would be to...

Mozenrath curled his fingers in Chase's dark hair, pulling the man into an agressive kiss.

Chase did not need to be told twice to respond, and eagerly kissed back, delving his tongue into the other's mouth as full lips parted for him. _How could I have survived all this time without my mate's taste?_ he absently wondered to himself, sliding a hand down to rest on the younger's lower back.

Somehow, the logical aspect of his brain was still functioning, though at under half-capacity than usual, as Mozenrath broke off the kiss. Okay...so there was some proof, alright. What came after the experiment in the Scientific Method again? Oh, yeah, trials and conclusions.

Apparently though, Chase was the one who then saw fit to initiate the 'trials' part.

The sorcerer's mouth was quickly recaptured by the elder's lips, and through the haze of raw lust that tore through him at that moment, Mozenrath was aware of his black cloak being undone by agile fingers.

Xerxes and Scirocco had long since fled from the room, knowing more than their fair share of mating rituals, and having seen this coming a mile away.

Mozenrath practically purred into the kiss, using his last shred of focus to teleport them to his personal chambers, where he then pulled the man currently ravaging his mouth onto the bed.

Chase growled softly, tearing the bandages away from his mate's throat and ignoring the scars there in favor of sinking his fangs deep into the flesh.

The sorcerer gasped at the mild pain before sighing as the teeth retracted from his neck and a hot tongue eagerly licked at the wound.

Clothing became a distraction, an annoyance then, and they each, out of the goodness of their hearts, helped each other to rid themselves of the nuisance.

Armor hit the floor with a dull clank, and the royal blue and black fabric of Mozenrath's top was quickly draped over it.

Chase lay biting kisses along his mate's chest, gratified as the young man groaned at the pleasure of the sensation while his inner dragon roared in triumph at finally having the gorgeous young creature beneath him and at his mercy.

Mozenrath was on Cloud 9. He had never imagined, even in his wildest dreams, that something like this would become a reality for him. It was... _wow_... However, he then felt a slight tug on his Gauntlet that dragged him back to reality.

He immediately jerked his arm away from the man, cradling it almost protectively to chest with the other. He...he didn't want Chase to see... _it_...not yet, not when things were going like they were.

Chase stopped, inspecting Mozenrath's face for an answer as to his actions. His eyes were wide, fearful, and his sensitive hearing picked up the mile-a-minute heartbeat thudding against the sorcerer's chest. He was afraid to take off that glove? He decided that this was all very interesting, and he'd investigate it deeper at a later date. If his mate didn't want to take the thing off just yet, that was perfectly fine. There were more important matters to be handled at the moment.

Every trace of uncertainty and fear melted from Mozenrath's mind as Chase, apparently not giving even _half_ a damn about the Gauntlet, returned to his lavishing of attentions upon him, and the sorcerer moaned helplessly as a teasing hand ventured lower...

 

* * *

 

What could have been days later for all Mozenrath knew, but in truth was only two or three hours later, a strong arm curled tightly around his waist and held him to his lover's chest.

Conclusion: Chase had _definitely_ been telling the truth.

 

* * *

 

As a dim dawn broke in the east, Chase cast his golden gaze towards his slumbering mate.

The young man was laying on his stomach, arms crossed and his head lain on them as if they were a pillow. His excessively long hair was splayed around him, miraculously untangled from the previous night's activities, and alike in nature to an inky black pool of water. A smooth expanse of the cream-white flesh of the sorcerer's back was almost teasingly exposed, and the only thing that kept the dragon's eyes from the _rest_ of his mate was a blue silken sheet.

His inner dragon gave a lustful growl, already wanting to claim the youth again, but Chase deftly forced down the urge. If he had his way, there would be _plenty_ of time for that later.

Now that he could think a little more clearly, no longer intensely focused on getting his mate to accept his dominance again, he was able to see that the young man must have suffered a good deal in his absence.

The scars on his neck told of painful and very deep wounds inflicted, from what, though, Chase hadn't the slightest. Mozenrath was _insanely_ skinny, and it was up in the air as to whether or not he'd been eating at all in the past four years, but he felt he could easily change that simply with his being there to see to the young man's health. And then, of course, there was that glove...

Chase wasn't stupid.

Now that he had the opportunity, he inspected the leather article and noted that it was heavily soaked in the scent of magic, decomposition, and death. Before it even crossed his mind to wonder whether it was the glove that gave him his power or augmented it, his trained eyes immediately locked on to an out-of-place sight, thin and stark white.

The glove, he thought to himself, didn't completely cover up what it was supposed to, because Chase was able to see Mozenrath's right arm. Not all of it, but enough. It was perfectly normal until the bend of the elbow, at which point the skin, muscle, and nerves simply ceased, and without a transitional stage, became only bone. The skeletal appendage was fairly covered by the glove, and it was only by Chase's keen eyesight that the less-than-centimeter-long exposed bone was discovered. There was no way, other than removing the glove, to tell just how much of the arm was consumed by the decomposition, but the dragon had a feeling that whatever wasn't exposed already was going to be solid bone as well.

At least it now made sense why Mozenrath had been trying to keep this from him, but that still told him nothing of just why the arm was in such a state.

Curiously, Chase reached out a finger and dragged it lightly over the bit of exposed skeleton, and the man raised an eyebrow as his mate twitched in his sleep, rolling over as if to move away from the touch. _"Hm,"_ he thought to himself, _"so he can still feel sensations with it. Strange."_

Deciding he would rather not wake his tired partner and demand answers just yet, he stood from the bed, quickly dressing himself and deciding to wander the citadel a bit in the meantime.

 

* * *

 

Finally coming to a balcony he liked, he folded his arms and busied himself in watching the sunrise. Why was it always so dark here? Did Mozenrath simply abhor the light, or was it perhaps something out of even _his_ control?

"Chase Young."

The growling statement of his name caught the man's attention, and he turned to see the taupe eel that belonged to his mate currently fixing him with a stern gaze. "May I help you, Xerxes?"

"What you want with master?" the familiar questioned suspiciously.

The reply was quick and blunt. "I want him."

Xerxes seemed to consider this response for a moment. "You...love master?"

"Yes," Chase answered, looking the eel straight in the eye, "I do."

Xerxes carefully inspected the man, considering every possible tell of a lie. He found none. He swam forward, brushing against the dragon approvingly before pointedly catching the warlord's eyes. "You hurt master," red-pink eyes lit up menacingly, "you _die._ "

And with that the creature flew off to wherever it was that he had been the previous night, back to join Scirocco in the activity they had been engaging in all morning like normal people: sleeping.

Chase 'hm'-ed introspectively at his brief conversation with the eel. The creature was protective of his master's well-being. He could respect that.

He suddenly tensed as he felt a figure approach him from behind, this one decidedly not Xerxes, but he quickly relaxed as his mate's scent reached him.

"I thought you'd have left by now."

Chase made an amused noise in the back of his throat. "I thought you'd have realized I don't _want_ to leave by now."

Mozenrath groaned as if exasperated. "You mean I have to keep putting up with you?"

Catching the playful tone in the sorcerer's voice, Chase smirked, turning to face him. "It's the least you could do for making me put up with _you_ all that time."

Mozenrath laughed, honestly amused. "Touché."

"I seem to recall that I neglected to ask you: what have you been up to for the last few years?"

"Oh, the usual," Mozenrath shrugged, "military conquest, assorted murders and evil deeds, necromancy; nothing new."

"So it would seem." Not _quite_ the answer he was looking for, but he could make it work. "Exactly where along the way did you lose your arm?"

The reaction was immediate. Mozenrath tensed, ducking his head to avoid the other's eyes, and his hands gripped the balcony's railing until his knuckles turned white. "Wh...what are you talking about?" His nervous demeanor was instantly apparent.

"I saw your arm." Before the sorcerer could snap at him about an invasion of privacy, he added, "I didn't touch your glove, but I saw it. I'm also willing to bet that it has something to do with you necromancy, or if not that, then your magic, so if you would care to explain...?"

Knowing he was caught, the young lord sighed dejectedly, slipping off the Gauntlet and holding his skeletal arm up for Chase to see. "This is the price I paid for the power I so desperately wanted. Everything I have now was paid for with this arm."

"How so?" Chase was honestly curious.

"Remember I said that I was a slave when I first came here, and then became an apprentice?" The dragon nodded in acknowledgement. "Well that was all fine and good for a while, but then my master took up drinking and started abusing me. I might have never been able to strike him down without the power of the Gauntlet and rightfully inherit his lands. Without this glove, I'd probably still be being beaten by Destane, but where am I now? I am the Lord of the Black Sands, the most powerful sorcerer of the age, and a mere flick of the wrist away from _owning_ this world. It drains my lifeforce as I use it, yes, but...that is a trivial issue."

"An unfair trade, I'd wager," Chase criticized, "What will your empire mean if you're dead?"

"I won't be," Mozenrath scoffed, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I've got a few years left now that I don't have to contend with that nuisance, Aladdin, and I'll have plenty of time to figure out how to prevent my death."

Chase was silent for a moment. This could work in his favor... "What if you didn't have to?"

"Huh?" The question caught Mozenrath offguard.

" _I_ could keep you from dying, keep you just as you are for all eternity."

Mozenrath was sorely tempted to just accept the offer, but he knew better. "And what do you want from me in exchange?"

"Only you," Chase answered, laying his hands on the other's shoulders, "all of you; mind, body, and soul."

The sorcerer shifted tentatively. "And what would you expect of me then?"

"You would be my mate, obviously. I wouldn't steal your empire from you, but I could help you rule it; be an advisor of sorts. And of course, you would receive all the _...benefits_ of being my lover, but that goes unsaid, doesn't it?" Chase could see the young man's resolve weakening already. "I _would_ like to retrieve my warriors first, but then I could stay here with you. Together, we could rule the worthless little peons of this world...and all you have to do is say 'yes'. With that one word, you can have _everything_ that you want."

The sorcerer blinked, digesting the information. Everything that Chase was offering? It sounded absolutely...fantastic! Oh, he wanted this very badly, but was he willing to agree to the terms? For all he knew, it was just a lie to trap him into an unfair contract in which he became nothing more than a concubine to the next Lord of the Black Sands.

But...was he _really_ willing to pass up such an opportunity?

Mozenrath took a deep breath, and gave his answer.


	11. Epilogue

Mozenrath stood in his chamber, half-leaning and bracing his hands against the window ledge. Black sand as far as the eye could see.

The Seven Deserts belonged to him. He had finally done it. He had won.

A pair of strong arms curled around his waist, and he heard an irritated growl just below his ear.

Unable to form a complete sentence at the ridiculous hour of the morning, or late hour of the night depending on how you looked at it, but wanting his impromptu pillow to know he was missed, Chase simply demanded, "Bed. Now."

The sorcerer graciously acquiesced, allowing himself to be pulled back to the soft, inviting bed and into his lover's arms.


End file.
